Lebanese filmmaker Leila Basma still can’t quite believe that her short Sea Salt has been selected for the Venice International Film Festival. “I mean, I’m still in denial,” she says with a laugh when we meet there.
“Maybe in a few months, I’m going to start to feel okay, the side effects of having this in Venice. But right now, I’m still processing.”
Due to be unveiled in the Orizzonti Short Film Competition on Friday, this elegantly made coming-of-age tale is also – believe it or not – her graduation film. That’s quite a way to announce yourself.
While Basma lives in Prague, where she’s been studying at the esteemed film school Famu, her film took her back to the Lebanese seaside town of Sour, also known as Tyre, where she grew up. “I really wanted my film to speak to the Lebanese audience,” she says.
The film follows Nayla, 17. It’s the summer and her brother wants her to move to Canada, where he lives. Meanwhile, Anthony, the young man she has a brief romance with, wants her to come to Beirut, which he feels will be best for her.
“It was a lot about my own experience and wanting to leave but also wanting to stay,” Basma says. “A lot about being pushed away. I feel like we experience it a lot in Lebanon, especially us young people.
"We always feel like we need to go somewhere else and move on but at the same time we’re attached to where we are. We love our country. Personally, I love the sea, I love my town. But it felt like everybody wanted me to leave.”
Sitting alongside Basma is her lead, Nathalie Issa, the Lebanese actress who shot to fame in last year’s The Swimmers, a drama based on the true story of refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea. The dark-haired actress nods in agreement, recognising Nayla’s dilemma as symbolic of Lebanese teenagers of today.
“If they want to achieve what they want, if they have a lot of dreams, they have to make the decision to go away, unfortunately,” she sighs. Ironically Issa left Lebanon, aged eight and moved to France, but returned in her adult years and now lives in Beirut.
Her early experiences in Europe were another way she related to Sea Salt, with Nayla caught between the conservative elders in her town and more liberal youngsters around her. “She has a family who has some traditions, but also friends who live in a more progressive way,” says Issa.
“So you can find it a lot in Lebanon ... a lot of traditional people, but also a lot of people with open minds. When I go out, when I saw how French people live, I was like: ‘Oh, it’s a whole different life.’ And I had to choose my path.”
This sensitivity shows why she was the perfect casting for the film. “The role was very delicate. I needed someone who was very mature but at the same time looked very young,” admits Basma, who shot for seven days in Lebanon and one day in Prague.
Those were the toughest moments, with Issa weighted down in a pool for an underwater sequence. “It was quite stressful,” the actress admits. “But I love when movies challenge you and Sea Salt challenged me.”
Talking of which, Basma is now writing a feature script and also developing a feature documentary.
The latter is based on her Lebanese uncle, who moved to Los Angeles to become a belly dancer. She already captured him in The Adam Basma Project, which was shortlisted for the 48th annual Student Oscars. In the full-length documentary, she wants to explore how the family is dependent on him but unable to accept his choices. “Some of them are embarrassed that he’s a belly dancer,” she confesses.
Issa also loves the idea of non-fiction. “I also want to get behind the camera at some point and do some documentaries,” she says. “I don’t want to just stay in acting.”
Perhaps, that can be put down to her experiences in the industry already. Released by Netflix globally, The Swimmers did offer Issa the chance to get an American manager – although she clearly wants to act there on her own terms.
“The problem always with international projects is that they require always an American accent,” she says. “It’s really hard when you’re an Arabic actor ... it’s really hard for me still to find my path in the international scene.
"My challenge is to break the walls and to be accepted for my accent and just represent the world. There are a lot of people who have accents who come from different backgrounds. This is how the world is now.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The%20Kitchen
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FIGHT%20CARD
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
MATCH INFO
Who: France v Italy
When: Friday, 11pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Kill%20
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, Friday, March 29, 5pm at The Sevens, Dubai
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPAD%20PRO%20(12.9%22%2C%202022)
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Blue%20Beetle
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Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Manchester City 4
Otamendi (52) Sterling (59) Stones (67) Brahim Diaz (81)
Real Madrid 1
Oscar (90)
The years Ramadan fell in May
