At Last

Alain is 8 years old. At school, the students bully him and the blindness of the adults worsen his situation because they punish him for standing up for himself.

Long synopsis

Alain is an eight-year-old only child who is deeply cherished and carefully nurtured by his loving parents. However, the tender environment he enjoys at home is in stark contrast to the harsh reality he faces daily at school. There, the other students mercilessly bully him, exploiting his deep desire to play and socialize with his peers. Compounding his distress is the heartbreaking failure of the surrounding adults to see the truth; their blindness to the abuse only worsens Alain’s situation, as he is unfairly punished, every time he attempts to defend himself. At Last, in a dramatic and unexpected turn of events, his classmate, Anna, steps in and completely reverses the power dynamic. While Anna’s occasional interventions have offered some relief, the damage has been done: Alain will forever feel the absence of a fully lived childhood, never sensing its full, desired measure.

Writer, Editor & Director Shazdeh Hachem
Image Elsy Hajjar
Sound Tatiana el Dahdah, Tania Kammoun & Adam Mabrouk
Line producer Georges Hachem
Production assistants Ghada Hachem & Hussein Gharib
Camera assistant Cybèle Khoury
Make Up Sfx Lara Keidy
Color grading Elias Nemer
Cast Owen Sawma & Yana el Outa,
Mahmoud Haidar, Joud Salem, Hani el Mawla, Yorgo Nassour, Rayan Houjeiry, Andrea Sleiman, Christa Bou Antoun, Kinan Houjeiry, Joseph Reaidy, Maria Reaidy, Serena Haidar, Rayan Kaafarani, Zoé Chartouni, Ella Mkhayel, Tia Maria Helou, Charbel el Hayek, Romy Abou Nasr, Joyce Abi Hanna, Lynn Hmeid, Léa Hmeid, Houda Nohra, Tracy Abou Jaoude, Kaden Sawma, Gabriella el Safi, Lamita Kteich, Victor Yehya, Céline Naim, Christian Charbel, Mary Feghaly, Rita Feghaly, Nay Tamraz, Alexi Salem, César Yatim, Rémie Kanaan, Naya Wehbé, Ella Maria Yazbeck, Christia Geagea, Caline Zakhour, Célia Ayoub, Alice Janbeih, Shazdeh Hachem, Ghada Hachem, Carlos Naffah, Yolande Hachem, Carole Abboud, Darine Mechleb, Elie Saba, Ghina Abboud, Adham el Dimashki
Lebanese University Faculty Of Fine Arts

Minutes

2025

Release

Production

Lebanon

Bio – Filmography

Shazdeh Hachem is a young French Lebanese filmmaker. He is born in Paris in 2001.
In 2024, he graduated from the Lebanese university with a Master degree in cinema studies. His master thesis is about the place of childhood and educational issues in the cinema of François Truffaut. His senior film At last is about bullying in school. His portfolio comprises many short movies of which Act of folly in 2022, 19 in 2024 and At last in 2024.

Director Statement

I wanted to make this film so badly to let the audiences see what it means to be bullied in a daily basis at school and to prove to everyone that very quickly school can become living hell for the bullied kid. The effect of bullying doesn’t stop in childhood they continue into the teenage years into adulthood and can be damaging forever. Not every child reacts to bullying in the same way. Some recover, some don’t. The adults are a real problem also because to top it all off, they punish unfairly the bullied kid instead of the bullies. Also, they can abuse their power to punish the child without reasons. I’ve been through it all. I want to help everyone that has been through these nasty experiences not just bullying but more than that. I really don’t want that someone goes through it again. I want to heal and to heal others people. In this film the audience see the root cause of why the kid is angry and why he is not adapting to society as he should of but don’t get it twisted the others are not helping him either. The goal of the film is to let the audience understand what the bullied kid is going through, understand him, be moved by the film and to identify with the bullied kid. This film is the point of view of the child to really understand what it’s like to be bullied to not be heard in school by the adults and worse to be punished by them for standing up for himself facing the bullies. I want the film to be as close as possible to reality to really capture what happens in the point of view of the kid who is being bullied and to immerse the audience in the film. That will be achieved by the handheld camera, the camera movement and the types of shots in the film and how the kids can be able to convey emotions. In the film, there is no apparent cause for bullying the kid and the film is in his point of view. There is no apparent reason to be bullied by the others, to be punished unfairly and to not be heard. That is the strong point in the film and that what make it universal. All the people watching will relate to it and also I want it to be that way to make it more personal and more authentic because I know how it feels to be in this situation, and I am the one who’s making this film because I don’t want it to be another story about bullying but this is my story, I will not accept that another child will live another one of these experiences just like me and I want to finally make this film consciously or unconsciously. Also, to this day, I have never known why the others bully me and why adults punished with or without reason.