Arzé

Arzé, a single mother, is determined to buy her son a used scooter so he can help her deliver the mouth-watering pies she bakes, her only source of income. To make this happen, she steals and pawns her sister's bracelet–which may or may not have been a good idea.

But alas, the scooter is stolen! And when the police are useless–it's Lebanon after all–Arzé takes matters into her own hands and drags her reluctant son all over Beirut in search of the missing scooter.

Arzé and her son quickly find themselves embroiled in a long journey full of twists and turns as they navigate the sectarianism and chaos of Beirut. To blend in with each neighborhood they visit, Arzé gets creative and puts on a whole disguise. She's a chameleon, changing her accent, donning a hijab or a Christian cross, and even giving Kinan a new name. She'll do anything to find the scooter.

The quest is long and frustrating. As tensions rise and family secrets are revealed, finding the scooter is at stake and so is the unity of Arzé's family.

In 2018, Mira Shaib and Producer Zeina Badran were selected to Film Independent's Global Media Makers LA Residency where they developed the project.[2] In 2019, the film was among only six Arabic projects selected to the inaugural Red Sea Lodge,[3][4][5] which was in collaboration with the TorinoFilmLab.[6][7] The film, originally titled, I Am Arzé, was among the first recipients of the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation Production Fund.[8][9]

The script, by Louay Khraish and Faissal Sam Shaib, was an Official Finalist in the First Time Screenwriter Competition at the 2018 Amsterdam Film Festival Van Gogh Awards[10]

• Arzé at IMDb