Danielle Arbid’s ‘Only Rebels Win,’ Starring Hiam Abbass, Boarded by Fandango Sales Ahead of Berlinale Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Fandango Sales has boarded French-Lebanese director Danielle Arbid’s “Only Rebels Win,” starring “Succession” actress Hiam Abbass, for international sales. The film will world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section.

The film, which also stars French-South Sudanese-Chadian actor Amine Benrachid, is set in Beirut, where Suzanne (Abbass) meets Osmane (Benrachid) after saving him from a racist attack. Osmane is Sudanese, young, undocumented and searching for a better future. Suzanne is a middle-class widow with Palestinian roots, a mother of two adult children and well over twice his age.

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Unexpectedly, the two lonely souls open up to each other and connect. Shy at first, they grow closer, until they admit they are in love. As a fractured Lebanon teeters on the brink of collapse, their relationship provokes a wave of anger and indignation all around them, forcing them to face the hostility, and to resist.

Arbid is a French filmmaker and video artist of Lebanese origin. Her fiction films – “In the Battlefields,” “A Lost Man,” “Parisienne” and “Simple Passion” – were selected and received awards at Cannes (Official Selection and Directors’ Fortnight), as well as at San Sebastián, Toronto, Busan and Locarno among other international festivals.

Her documentaries and film essays have won Locarno’s Golden and Silver Leopard as well as the Prix Albert Londres. She also directed the Canal+ series “Singapoura” and “66.5.” Arbid’s video works have been exhibited in museums such as the Centre Pompidou. Her most recent feature film “Simple Passion,” adapted from the autobiographical novella by Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux, was an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival in 2020 and went on to play the Toronto, San Sebastián, Busan, Zurich and Sydney film festivals.

Abbass, a Palestinian actress and filmmaker, was born in Nazareth and grew up in the small village of Deir Hanna in Galilee. She started acting in the Palestinian El-Hakawati Theater in East Jerusalem in the 80s. After a detour in London, Abbass settled in Paris.

She is known for her roles in “Satin Rouge,” “Paradise Now,” “Free Zone,” “Munich,” “The Visitor,” “Lemon Tree,” “In Syria,” “Blade Runner 2049” and “Gaza Mon Amour.” She has worked with directors such as Yousry Nasrallah, Hani Abu Assad, Steven Spielberg, Jim Jarmusch, Denis Villeneuve, Tom McCarthy, Terrence Malick, Eran Riklis, Radu Mihaileanu, Amos Gitai and Ridley Scott.

She was nominated and won awards for her performances in several films. In the last years, she gained prominence for her role as Maysa in the comedy “Ramy on Huly,” and as Marcia Roy in HBO drama series “Succession.”

Benrachid, a French actor with South Sudanese and Chadian roots, trained at the free, alternative nonprofit film school École Kourtrajmé, founded by Ladj Ly, director of “Les Misérables,” which aims to democratize cinema by training diverse, underrepresented talent in filmmaking and visual arts. “Only Rebels Win” is his first lead role in a feature film.

Raffaella Di Giulio, managing director, international sales and acquisitions for Fandango Sales commented: “ ‘Only Rebels Win’ is a powerful and emotionally charged love story, brought to life with remarkable cinematic force. We are extremely proud to represent the film and to collaborate with Danielle Arbid, a filmmaker we have long admired, as well as with the outstanding team at Easy Riders Films and Abbout Productions, whose commitment to bold and meaningful cinema we greatly value. We believe this work will resonate strongly with buyers and, even more importantly, with audiences, reaffirming Arbid’s unique and courageous voice.”

“Only Rebels Win” is produced by Easy Riders Films and Abbout Productions in co-production with Rise Studios and Arab Radio and Television network in association with Les Films Pelléas, Reborn Studio, and Arte Kino Productions 22, with the support of Red Sea Souk Project Market, Hubert Bals Fund + Europe, Fonds Image de la Francophonie, Doha Film Institute and Aide aux cinémas du monde – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée – Institut français.