Manal Issa

Manal Issa — Biography

Lina, the lead role in Danielle Arbid's film Peur de rien, is the part French-Lebanese actress Manal Issa is best known for. She also trained as an engineer. That breakthrough brought her prizes and nominations in both Lebanese and French cinema, and she later took part in an international production with the role of Sara Mardini in The Swimmers.

Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France, she moved with her parents to Beirut at the age of three. Her first major step was Peur de rien. For it she won the best actress award at the Les Arcs European Film Festival and was nominated for most promising actress at the Lumières Awards; in 2017 she was also named best actress at the Nuit des Mabrouk, held by the Liban Cinéma foundation. In the same year she made the preselection for the César for Most Promising Actress.

Her later work includes Nocturama, Hatıra Kutusu and My Favorite Fabric (2018), in which she played Nahla. In The Swimmers (2022) she played Sara Mardini and shared the screen once more with her sister Nathalie Issa. Vom Lokführer, der die Liebe suchte... and Black Box also appear in her filmography.