
Mounia Akl
Directing
Biography
Mounia Akl is a Lebanese Director and Writer living between Beirut and New York. Mounia holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from ALBA, Lebanon and an MFA in Directing from Columbia University, New York. Apart from her Directing work, Mounia has taught film Directing at the Northwestern University, Chicago and taught a screenwriting Lab at Columbia University where she also was the TA of Richard Peña. Costa Brava, Lebanon (2021) is her first feature film.
Known For

Under pressure, fraying at the edges. In relentless night-time Liverpool, copper Chris is paired with a rookie. Will they save or destroy each other?
The Responder

Eight months after her mentor Andy Jones suffered a heart attack, Head Chef Carly is battling to forge a name for new London restaurant Point North alongside her old kitchen crew. With the pressure to draw in new, hungry customers and the financial squeeze to keep the business profitable, the team must find a way to manage their complicated personal lives whilst creating quality food day in, day out.
Boiling Point
An anthology series that peers behind closed doors and exposes the private lives and secrets of the guests checking into hotel rooms around the world. Spanning a range of genres from thriller to comedy to horror, a common theme threads each episode: everybody has a dark side, and we’re all this close to being exposed. From the vast skylines of London, to the corners of Beirut, through worn-out British seaside towns, to a shady room in Eastern Europe, the audience is given an entirely new vantage point on what goes on behind the “do not disturb” signs. All nine 10-minute episodes premiered at the 2019 Cannesseries but never saw any further release.
Do Not Disturb

In this sweeping love story that spans three decades of passion, heartbreak, and hope, Nino and Yasmina find themselves drawn together by a magnetic relationship. As they face an impossible choice between love and survival, they must decide if they want to build a family and chart a path to happiness in Lebanon, despite the tragedies ravaging the country.
A Sad and Beautiful World

On August 4th, 2020, the catastrophic explosion at the port of Beirut leaves a large part of the Lebanese capital in ruins. In the midst of the chaos, a troubled film crew face an overwhelming decision: to continue the production of their movie or abandon it? As they face the aftermath of the catastrophe, they are torn between their firm belief in the transformative power of cinema and a deep sense of cynicism about its ability to effect change in a nation plagued by economic turmoil and societal collapse. Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano chronicles their struggles and highlights the crew's resilience as they strive to find meaning and purpose in their work amidst the devastation.
Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano

Members of a family quit the polluted, rubbish-strewn city of Beirut for an idyllic mountain home. However, their dreams of a utopian existence are shattered by the construction of a landfill on the boundary of their land.
Costa Brava, Lebanon

Under the imminent threat of Lebanon's garbage crisis, Hala, a wild child inside of a woman, is the only one to refuse evacuation, clinging to whatever remains of home.
Submarine

A troubled young pianist is haunted by the memory of her demanding instructor.
To Keep Your Vital Organs Warm

A portmanteau feature that is an often laugh-out-loud portrait of Lebanon and all its myriad charms and idiosyncrasies.
Lebanon Factory

When hungover Bassem wakes up by the lake shore among dead fish, his sister Youmna, whom he hasn't seen for 12 years, is there with a coffin.
El Gran Libano

When a small coastal town of fishermen learns about the secret visit of the President of the Republic to its local soap shop, they embark in an everlasting struggle at cleaning up and maintaining the perfect image of their town.
The President's Visit

Aging couple Bahiya and Mahmoud have fallen into a reliable routine of bickering and making one another miserable until the morning that Mahmoud wakes and finds Bahiya gone.
Bahiya & Mahmoud
A short Documentary about the Lebanese peoples' revolution of 2019/2020.