Noel Keserwany, a Berlin Golden Bear winner for her 2023 short “Les Chenilles,” is developing her debut feature “Printemps,” and will pitch the project at the upcoming Pitching Platforms, part of the Amman Film Industry Days (AFID).
For over a decade, Keserwany and her sister Michelle have been telling stories in Lebanon through their satirical political music videos – biting, poetic expressions of frustration and hope.
This audiovisual activism eventually led to their Berlinale-winning short film “Les Chenilles” co-directed by the duo, with Noel and Masa Zaher in the lead roles. From music to cinema, the transition was natural – an evolution grounded in urgency and personal necessity. As Noel puts it, “We started doing art because we needed to say something. It wasn’t the other way around.”
Now, Noel, Michelle and sister Angèle Keserwany have co-founded Barr, a Lebanon-based production company focused on socially engaged, sustainable filmmaking. “We felt how crucial it is to have our own production in Lebanon,” Noel explains. Barr is already nurturing its first two feature films: “Printemps” and “Amara,” Michelle’s debut feture. Both films reflect the company’s deep commitment to rooted, resonant storytelling.
‘Printemps’
Barr
“Printemps” – which means “spring” in French, though the title remains untranslated – is a character-driven drama about Soha, a vivid woman in her late twenties living with her family in a deserted seaside resort during the off-season. She sells fake luxury perfumes in Jounieh, a city where aspiration and pretense collide. When a rom-com TV crew takes refuge in her shop one rainy day, Soha grasps the chance to rewrite her life narrative. As she immerses herself in this new world, the boundaries between ambition and integrity start to blur.
“‘Printemps’ is an intimate drama with humor at its heart. It follows Soha and her sister Rania, two siblings from a working-class generation suspended in a state of delayed youth, a delay quietly passed down from one generation to the next,” the filmmaker explains.
“Set within their close circle, the film explores their search for a way to live fully, on their own terms, in the brief, precious years of youth that still belong to them. It is a story of softness and defiance; of pushing back, gently but persistently, against the social limits they’ve inherited.”
Barr has also released a first concept art of “Printemps,” whicj looks like a shot of twowomen on a high-rise balcony. Notably, the context is clealy defined, the women have yet to come into focus.
Still in early development, “Printemps” is making its first appearance on the international co-production stage. No sales agents or partners are attached yet, and Barr is exploring potential co-producers. But the intention is clear and unwavering.
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