Broken Keys

By Benjamin Lutz

The short:

Lebanon's entry to the 93rd Academy Awards, Jimmy Keyrouz's Broken Keys tells the story of a young musician in a neighborhood that has fallen under the control of the Islamic State group in 2014.

The long:

The protagonist struggles to build his piano after it has been destroyed by terrorists, amid a ban on music. The idea came to Keyrouz, himself a pianist when he looked on at events in Syria as a student at Columbia University.

The film - shot on location in Mosul - was first produced as an award-winning short in 2016 before being transformed into a full-length feature film.

To watch or not to watch?

This is an incredibly powerful and compelling film. Watch it!