Author: Michael Asmar

K7 first original song is now available on YouTube and Anghami. “Alb Setti” is written by Tony Chamoun, composed by Michael Asmar, arranged by Marwan Rahy and performed by Layal El-Ghossain.

K7 – كاسيت (Cassette) is an independent Lebanese music creative team that produces its original content. Looking at music as a powerful storytelling medium, K7 is keen on sharing simple stories through their works. “At first, songwriting was no more than just a hobby, but we are currently offering our music to a wider audience.”

Founded by four audiovisual graduates, Michael Asmar, Marwan Rahy, Michel Mema and Mia El Hajal, K7 also brings attention to visuals that can accompany music for a more decent feeling.

Watch the full music video here:

Also available on Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/song/81391627

The first short film directed by Michael Asmar got its fourth prize following the two Best Directing Award at Steps International Film Festival and Festival International du Cinéma des Jeunes de Meknès and the second prize at OraUnion Film Festival.

Naseem was produced in 2017 in Lebanon, and it is now available on vimeo.

“Et la fête continue !” (And the party goes on!) gets a new selection, for the second time in France, the country where the film was produced and shot. Festival du Film Libanais de France is a festival dedicated to Lebanese cinema and Lebanese international society. In its first edition, the event will take place in Paris at the Lincoln cinema, from October 7th to October 11th, 2020. 

The film marks its 8th official selection, after Maine Student Film Festival and Global Indie Film Fest last month.

Festival du Film Libanais de France website: https://fflfofficial.fr/

“And The Party Goes On!” is the second short film made by Michael Asmar. Despite his young age, he has proved to be capable to create a really fine and powerful movie, with a surprising maturity worthy of an expert author. The director has chosen a precise authorial path, composed of a delicate sensitivity, a simple and impartial perspective and a very complex cinematographic realism. It’s really rare to find all these things in a short film, often because of the inexperience of the young directors and the few minutes available, but Asmar did it. With a “dry” and strong screenplay, structured on the deepest emotions of the protagonists and able to manage tension wonderfully, “And The Party Goes On!” the film involves the viewer without ever boring him, thanks to the fast changes of rhythm, never banal. The film develops around a few spaces and this allows the viewer to focus on the feelings and reflections experienced by the protagonists. The spaces shown in the film lead us into the intimacy of the protagonists, in a continuous exchange between their soul and the place they inhabit.  This simplicity is the key of the entire movie, the base of the poetic defined by Asmar. It seems to be easy to create, but there is obviously a great awareness, a great passion, behind this style.

The powerful story told by the director shows the frailties and horrors of human beings. What makes this film terribly sincere is the everyday life that surrounds these feelings, without any spectacle of pain and sadness. Asmar’s poetic realism leads us to the search for forgiveness, through good and evil, and the ending seems to suggest that the truth is at the bottom of each of us and nowhere else. The last frame is extremely strong, almost shocking yet extremely simple. The attention is all on Cécile, the protagonist, while she confesses her terrible crime. There is no escape and the viewer is forced to look into the eyes of who we believe the monster may be, and that it is often not.

A praise to acting and cinematography, which helped create a moving and engaging atmosphere.

Reviewed by Prisma Rome Independent Film Awards.

Source: https://www.romeprismafilmawards.com/2019/11/20/and-the-party-goes-on-by-michael-asmar/