Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano

"Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano" situation is quite similar to Coppola's "Heart of Darkness" and that was quite interesting for me as I was not aware of the struggle of "Costa Brava Lebanon" production. Well, how was this documentary? Simply put, "Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano" is one of the best documentaries ever made in my opinion! "Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano" tells the story of a Lebanese film crew who decides to continue shooting their movie, in a nation struggling with economic turmoil and societal collapse.

I'm not a huge fan of documentaries. Rarely do I like a documentary and "Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano" hit the right spot for me. I found this documentary to be quite interesting with the issue it presented. What if everything that could go wrong on a film set went wrong? From the moment I read the synopsis, I was hooked! The end result was a tense, haunting, and heart-pounding documentary about making one of the best Lebanese films.  What made it stick with me was how it made me feel attached to the cast and crew. It created a certain vibe that I never felt in other documentaries and that made me love it even more. 

Of course, this documentary wasn't without its charm which was its comedy. I found it so weird to have a documentary to be this stressful yet so funny! Joe Saade, the cinematographer behind Costa Brava Lebanon, is perhaps the funniest and chillest cinematographer I've seen and stole the show when it came to the laughs. Praise should also go to the rest of the crew. Mounia Akl, Myriam Sassine and the rest of the crew did a phenomenal job handling this movie during production hell, and that put a big smile on my face. I hope more people get to see Cyril Aris's beautiful work in "Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano". It's not only a testament to great filmmaking but also a testament to good Lebanese cinema!