Lebanese Short Film Alya Represents Lebanon at Odense International Film Festival

Lebanese filmmaker Yara Melki’s short film Alya recently represented Lebanon at Denmark’s Odense International Film Festival (OFF), competing in the festival’s International Competition from August 24–30.

Shot in Mount Lebanon, Alya follows sixteen-year-old Alya as she navigates her first love and the expectations placed on young women in Lebanon. Torn between her desire for freedom and a world where reputation often defines worth, Alya is forced to confront the difficult transition from childhood to adulthood.

Alya was the sole Lebanese short film selected for this year’s international competition at Odense, chosen from more than 4,000 submissions, with only 164 films making the final selection.

The film has also screened at the Beirut International Women Film Festival and the Amman International Film Festival’s Arab Short Film Competition.

Written and directed by Melki, an NYU Tisch alum, Alya features cinematography by Cece Chan, editing by Adriana Guevara, and production by Phoebe Yung, Farah Sawli, and Melki. The cast includes Joya Jabbour, Bilal Al Hamwi, and Betty Tawtel, with Al Hamwi and Tawtel also appearing in Arzé, Lebanon’s submission for the 97th Academy Awards.

For Melki, Alya is rooted in the experience of growing up in Lebanon, where “reputation often shapes a young woman’s future before she has the chance to define it herself.” Rather than making a political statement, she chose to tell an intimate story about adolescence, desire, fear, and the pressures of being watched and judged.

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