Meedo Taha (Lebanon/United Kingdom)

Meedo Taha is a Lebanese director and writer whose work questions identity outside predefined social or political groups. His screenplay A Road to Damascus, based on his novel of the same title, participated in the Rawi Screenwriters Lab and received a development grant from the Doha Film Institute. His screenplay Other People received support from the Samuel Goldwyn Screenwriting Awards, Francis Coppola’s Screenplay Competition, and the Sundance Institute. His short film The Incident screened worldwide, with awards from the Directors Guild of America, Phoenix Film Festival, and Lebanese Film Festival. Meedo earned a Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Tokyo and an M.F.A. in Film Directing from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Other People — A father and three daughters living as outsiders on a Beirut rooftop clean apartments by day and pickpocket at weddings by night. Their only chance to keep their family together is to rob the last wedding of the summer, but when the boyish middle daughter falls in love with the bride, she must choose between freedom for her family and freedom for herself.