CYRIL ARIS

Cyril Aris is a Lebanese Director & Screenwriter and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® , currently in post-production for his first fiction feature, ‘A Sad and Beautiful World ’, produced by Abbout Productions (Lebanon), Diversity Hire (USA), and Reynard Films (Germany).

His latest feature documentary Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano (2023), received a post-production grant from the Sundance Institute and premiered in the main competition at Karlovy Vary, where it won a jury special mention. The film screened at BFI London, CPH:DOX, DOC NYC, and over 80 other festivals, winning awards in Rotterdam, Valencia, Rome, San Francisco, Marseille, and beyond. His debut feature documentary, The Swing (2018), also premiered at Karlovy Vary and won multiple awards across Europe and the Arab world.

His fiction short film, The President’s Visit (2017), premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), won oscar-qualifying awards and played in over 70 festivals.

He holds an MFA from Columbia University in the City of New York, and also works as an editor, with credits including Costa Brava, Lebanon (2021), directed by Mounia Akl, which premiered in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival, won the NETPAC award at the Toronto International Festival, the audience award at the BFI London Film Festival, and the FIPRESCI award at El-Gouna.

Producing credits include short film Submarine (2016), directed by Mounia Akl, official selection at the 69th Cannes Film Festival (Cinefondation competition), as well as TIFF, SxSW and over 100 festivals worldwide.