Parisienne

Lina (Manal Issa) is eighteen years old, serious, and strong-willed. She's just arrived in Paris from Beirut to start university and had planned to stay with her uncle, but he turns out to have an unhealthy interest in her. She flees and finds herself on the street. Luckily, she has a magnetic charm that draws people to her. It's not long before new school friends offer her a place to stay and Lina begins her immersion in Paris life. At a nightclub, she meets Jean-Marc (Paul Hamy), an older married man. For her, the relationship is the beginning of adulthood, but for him it's merely the latest in a string of conquests. Young waiter Julien (Damien Chapelle) seems better boyfriend material - except for his criminal side, which Lina finds dangerously appealing. This is especially risky because her legal status in France isn't secure; she regularly has to clear new bureaucratic hurdles simply to stay in the country. (Toronto International Film Festival)