The 42nd edition of the Cairo International Film Festival was, by all means, one of a kind. The star-studded edition was full of premieres and screenings of local, regional, and international films. During the festival, we got to attend the international premiere of the Lebanese Movie TV Society. The movie is directed by Robert Cremona and written by Fouad Yammine who was also the lead actor. The movie also features the promising star, Razane Jammal, who’s been making mad waves after her stunning role in Paranormal.
TV Society follows the story of a TV Host, Fouad, whose life is turned upside down after the airing of his new show, the Arabic version of an international dating TV show that offers a panel of women the choice of a potential male suitor. The show sparks uproar and turns him into a public enemy. Fouad loses the support of his family and his loving wife Sara after things get out of hand as a result of the media attack led by the conservative journalist Ramona, backed by a rival TV Channel.
The issues that TV Society tackles through its story are critical to our society. The movie takes the audience on a hypothetical trip that would make them question so many things, like to what extent words that we post online can affect someone’s life, to what extent should one care about people’s opinions, and where do we draw the line of what’s acceptable to society or not if you have radicals within the society who attack everything that’s different from their beliefs.
The storytelling in the movie is nice and clear. You can understand and grasp everything that the movie wants to communicate without being bored or feeling that the pace has slowed down in the middle. However, you do feel that the story is being a bit rushed towards the ending of the movie, where it’s clear what Fouad decided to do with the show but it’s not clear how his live video with Ramona impacted public opinion.
The acting in the movie is noteworthy as well. Fouad Yammine, Razane Jammal, and Betty Taoutal were absolutely stunning in their performances. Fouad took us all on an entertaining adventure, Razane made us feel so many different emotions, especially in her fight scene with Fouad, and Betty was super convincing as the antagonist who you love to hate for all the right reasons.
The overall experience of the movie was great, from the music to the picture, and of course the intriguing story. You should definitely put it on your list to check out some promising and unique Lebanese talents and a very relatable story.
