Son of a Dog
Spring Grant 2013 - Development Stage
Alain Sauma / Feature Narrative / Lebanon, Qatar / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Coming of Age, Drama, Identity
Synopsis
Set against the backdrop of a never-ending war, ‘Son of a Dog’ is the coming-of-age story of 17-year-old Nadim, who is struggling with the absence of his father, who abandoned him at birth. His fragile safety net – his loving if egocentric mother and his close childhood friends – slowly comes undone as the surrounding violence drags on and relentlessly closes in on him. One by one, the people close to Nadim leave the country, exacerbating his feelings of abandonment and drifting. But his drive to leave the country and follow his friends is eventually eclipsed by the need to understand why his father abandoned his family. The journey toward meeting his father turns out to be his rite of passage into adulthood.
Credits
- Director
- Alain Sauma
- Screenwriter
- Alain Sauma
About the Director
After completing his studies at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) in 1992, Alain Sauma received a scholarship to train in scriptwriting, directing and editing at FEMIS in Paris. Upon his return to Lebanon, he began teaching at ALBA, while pursuing a directing career in advertising. Over the past two decades, he has directed numerous nationwide corporate, tourism and awareness campaign films. In 2011, he directed ‘Blue Line’, a short film funded by CNC and France 2. It was selected for more than a dozen festivals and won several awards.