Bio
Isabelle is a French-Lebanese Filmmaker based in New York City. She studied English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, after which she worked on independent and studio productions.
Currently finishing her MFA in Filmmaking at NYU Tisch, Isabelle has worked on projects in Beirut, New York, Paris and Los Angeles. Titles include Sweet Thing by Alexandre Rockwell (Crystal Bear at Berlinale 2020, Critics’ Choice at Tribeca Film Festival 2021), Plaisir by Molly Gillis (SXSW 2021 premiere, Aspen Shortsfest 2021 Youth Jury Award), and more.
Her most recent short film Beity (2021) was officially selected to TIFF, Aspen, and Hollyshorts (where it won an award) - among others. It was purchased by The New Yorker and is now streaming on their platform.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT
On August 4th 2020, 2750 tons of illegally stored ammonium nitrate exploded in the port of Beirut; killing 218 people, injuring more than 7000 people, and displacing 300,000 people. To this day, more than two years later, no one has taken responsibility for it – although it is common knowledge that it happened because of the negligence and corruption of the government. And yet somehow, life goes on for Lebanese people. We have learned to navigate the chaos, because when you're in the middle of a storm, there's no time to think, and surviving becomes the default.
So I am angry.
I am angry that every-time I visit my parents I feel like I can't breathe, and then notice that they stopped trying long ago. I am angry that I feel guilty for having basic amenities
available all the time. I am angry that I feel like a stranger in my own country. This film will likely not change all of that. There is not a lot I can do from abroad, I am not
the one in the streets fighting for my life - but this I can do. I can tell this story, and tell it well.
"May You Outlive Us" centers on a household of four women.
Amid the three Lebanese women, I aim to portray how each generation manages the situation as best they can. The older generations have lived through the civil war (1975-1990) and in some ways have seen this all before. History keeps repeating itself, perhaps with some variation, but each one of those generations growing and living in Lebanon has had to go through some trauma and damage.
The fourth is a young Ethiopian woman who works and lives with the family. The chaos of Lebanon does not only affect Lebanese people: there is a big immigrant population whose struggles are often overlooked, and they are often treated as second-class citizens. Women who come to Lebanon, hoping for a better life, a good job, and to be able to support their families back home (not unlike all the Lebanese people who flee the country for a better future), instead have to face intense discrimination, laws that are not in their favor and systemic racism and sexism.
I want to tell the stories of women - the women who raised me, taught me, and loved me. This film is a chronicle of four days, leading up to Leila's departure for the United States. This departure is experienced both as a necessity and as a tragedy. In this story, no need to look outwards for drama, as turmoil is intrinsic to the history of the country, it happens every day at every hour. I wanted to stay glued to my characters and their reactions to the dysfunction of a country.
SYNOPSIS: MAY YOU OUTLIVE US
This is a film about four women going about their daily lives a year after the August 4, 2020 explosion that devastated Beirut. While the minute to minute of the story unfolds with the character’s routines, we see and feel that they’ve adjusted to a new normal: a city with devastated buildings, spotty electricity, and an economy so destroyed that people line up for hours for gas and wail at the prices in grocery stores.
The women are:
MAYA the matriarch, who silently suffers from PTSD,
her daughter DOUNIA who lost her husband in the explosion and is coping by drinking,
LELIA, Dounia's daughter who is trying to make the most of her last days before she leaves the country for college,
and ZARA, the housekeeper, who juggles work and her personal life in a country that sees her as less than.
We follow them through four days of their lives as they navigate the instabilities and changes in Lebanon, and try to cope as best they can.
PRODUCTION INFO
Co-production between Tabo Tabo Films and Ezekiel Films (The Insult, Clouds of Sils Maria).
One of four screenplays selected to the 2023 NYU Purple list.
One of three finalists for the Production lab Slate
Recipient of the TIFF Every Story People’s Fellowship 2022
TIFF Filmmaker Lab Fellow 2022
Financial support from Unifrance within their initiative to support first features.
Email (Manager): Samantha Starr - SStarr@circleofconfusion.com
Email: info@isabellemecattaf.com
Instagram: @isabellemecattaf
Website: www.isabellemecattaf.com