Lebanese director Mounia Akl’s feature debut, Costa Brava, Lebanon (2021), is a vital and reflective work for our present day. The free-spirited Badi family seeks refuge in the mountains, building a home far from the city’s social unrest, which fuels traumatic memories for the family patriarch, Walid (Saleh Bakri). Their idyllic peace is disturbed when the government, under pressure to resolve the pollution and environmental issues, begins building a garbage landfill next to their home. The intrusion stirs up divisions in the family. Walid’s wife, Souraya (Nadine Labaki), a musician, reminds him that they intend to return to the city one day with their daughters, Tala (Nadia Charbel) and Rim (Ceana Restom/Geana Restom).
The story’s central conflict is between isolationist idealism and social engagement. It taps into the conflict between introverted and extraverted natures and the fear response. Whether intentional or not, Akl’s story is built on the foundations of human psychology.