Manal Issa
Acting
Biography
Manal Issa is a french-libanese actress, writer, storyteller and robotics engineer.
Born: March 9, 1992
Place of Birth: Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Known For
Disorder
Four darkly funny tales about Lebanon: Activists planning a protest descend into internal strife. Three sisters and their mother argue while an incompetent plumber destroys their flat. Depressed life coach Malek wants to die and seeks help from a «death coach». A stand-up comedian who jokes about a meteor strike that could put Lebanon out of its misery, is blamed when it appears to come true.
Datæterna
In the near future, a micro-worker performs tasks that are suggested to her. Between data center maintenance and data processing, she hesitantly searches for ways to feel emotions. Devoid of social links, this world is saturated with data.
The Swimmers
From war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics, two young sisters embark on a risky voyage, putting their hearts and their swimming skills to heroic use.
The 4th Wall
Lebanon, 1982. To keep a promise made to an old friend, Georges, an idealistic theater director, travels to Beirut for a project as utopian as it is risky: to stage the play Antigone on the front line, in order to steal a moment of peace from the raging civil war. The characters will be played by actors from different political and religious camps. Lost in a city and a conflict he knows nothing about, Georges is guided by Marwan. As fighting resumes, everything is soon called into question, and Georges, who falls in love with Imane, has to face up to the reality of war.
Manal Issa, 2024
In Beirut on September 22, 2024, just hours before bombing escalated throughout the country, the Lebanese French actress Manal Issa considers the role of the actor during the unfolding global conflict.
Nocturama
Some young folks, tired of the society they're living in, plan a bomb attack over Paris before taking shelter for a night in a shopping center.
Memory Box
Maia, a single mother, lives in Montreal with her teenage daughter, Alex. On Christmas Eve, they receive an unexpected delivery: notebooks, tapes, and photos Maia, from 13 to 18 years old, sent from Beirut to her best friend who left for Paris to escape the civil war. Maia refuses to open the box or confront its memories, but Alex secretly begins diving into it. Between fantasy and reality, Alex enters the world of her mother’s tumultuous, passionate adolescence during the Lebanese civil war, unlocking mysteries of a hidden past.
2006
In 2006, as Israeli shells relentlessly rain down on Beirut, Sariah (13), her older sister Nayla, and their mother take refuge in the mountains, making sure not to mention the war raging in Lebanon. Sharp tensions between the three women soon resurface, and the rivalry between the two sisters escalates when Nayla's boyfriend pays her a visit.
Parisienne
18-year-old Lina arrives in Paris for her studies. She comes to look for what she has never found in Lebanon, her country of origin: a certain form of freedom. The survival instinct as the only baggage, she sails from one Paris to another to the rhythm of her romantic encounters.
My Favourite Fabric
Damascus, Spring 2011. It's the early stages of the civil war. 25-year-old Nahla is torn between her desire for freedom and the hope of leaving the country thanks to her arranged marriage with Samir, a Syrian expatriate in the USA. When he chooses her younger, more docile sister Myriam, Nahla finds refuge at her neighbor's, the mysterious Ms Jiji.
Filmography
as Imane
as Maria Schneider
as Nausica
as Madonna
as Ida
as Sarah Mardini
as Maria Schneider
as Jana
as Maia (Young)
as Sabrina (uncredited)
as Laura
as Souad
as Razerka
as Mona
as Nahla
as Sabrina
as Lina