During the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising in Iran, I meet an Iranian dissident online while I am in Lebanon, my home country. Over a year of conversations, I fall in love with him—and with the image of the revolutionary he embodies. When we finally meet, the image shatters: in his struggle, there is no room for love.
From this impossibility begins a journey across the Middle East. Through encounters with women in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon,
Layla, Layli and Her Possible Dreams revisits the ancient legend of Layla and Majnun, questioning the imagination of love these myths have shaped—and their validity today. Layla in Arabic, Layli in Persian, means “feminine night.” In this night, a shared struggle connects us, and the film becomes the space of our encounter.

Maria, born in Beirut in 1982, is a filmmaker and artist whose practice evolved from documentary theatre to film and photography. Her work explores ways of moving beyond the narratives and archives of power, gathering alternative stories through encounters and voices collected during her journeys across the Middle East.
Filmed in Lebanon, her first documentary, Tempo Fragile, draws on the biblical figure of the woman turned into a pillar of salt to reflect on judgment, faith, and obedience in a region long scarred by sectarian massacres.

During the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising in Iran, I meet an Iranian dissident online while I am in Lebanon, my home country. Over a year of conversations, I fall in love with him—and with the image of the revolutionary he embodies. When we finally meet, the image shatters: in his struggle, there is no room for love.
From this impossibility begins a journey across the Middle East. Through encounters with women in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon,
Layla, Layli and Her Possible Dreams revisits the ancient legend of Layla and Majnun, questioning the imagination of love these myths have shaped—and their validity today. Layla in Arabic, Layli in Persian, means “feminine night.” In this night, a shared struggle connects us, and the film becomes the space of our encounter.

Maria, born in Beirut in 1982, is a filmmaker and artist whose practice evolved from documentary theatre to film and photography. Her work explores ways of moving beyond the narratives and archives of power, gathering alternative stories through encounters and voices collected during her journeys across the Middle East.
Filmed in Lebanon, her first documentary, Tempo Fragile, draws on the biblical figure of the woman turned into a pillar of salt to reflect on judgment, faith, and obedience in a region long scarred by sectarian massacres.

Pendant le soulèvement « Femme, Vie, Liberté » en Iran, je fais la rencontre en ligne d’un dissident iranien alors que je me trouve au Liban, mon pays d’origine. Au fil d’une année de conversations, je tombe amoureuse de lui, et de l’image du révolutionnaire qu’il incarne. Lorsque nous nous rencontrons enfin, cette image se fissure : dans son combat, il n’y a pas de place pour l’amour.

De cette impossibilité naît un voyage à travers le Moyen-Orient. À travers des rencontres avec des femmes en Irak, en Iran et au Liban, Layla, Layli et ses rêves possibles revisite la légende ancienne de Layla et Majnun, interrogeant les imaginaires amoureux façonnés par ces mythes — et leur validité aujourd’hui.

Layla en arabe, Layli en persan, signifie « nuit féminine ». Dans cette nuit, une lutte commune nous relie, et le film devient l’espace de notre rencontre.

Maria, née à Beyrouth en 1982, est cinéaste et artiste. Sa pratique, initialement ancrée dans le théâtre documentaire, s’est progressivement déplacée vers le film et la photographie. Son travail explore des manières de dépasser les récits et archives du pouvoir, en rassemblant des histoires alternatives à travers les rencontres et les voix collectées au cours de ses voyages au Moyen-Orient.

Tourné au Liban, son premier documentaire, Tempo Fragile, s’inspire de la figure biblique de la femme changée en statue de sel pour réfléchir au jugement, à la foi et à l’obéissance dans une région durablement marquée par les massacres confessionnels.