101 minutes – Drama
Language: French, Arabic, English
Festival release date: September 3, 2010 (Venice Film Festival)
Release date: September 17, 2010 (Québec)
Canadian distributor: eOne Entertainment, Les films Séville
U.S. distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Twins Jeanne and Simon Marwan weren’t expecting much from their mother Nawal’s will. They are understandably stunned when Jean Lebel, notary and longtime friend of Nawal’s, reads her last wishes: for the twins to hand-deliver two letters, one to a father they thought dead, the other to a brother they never knew existed. Jeanne is convinced that in this baffling mission lies the explanation she had been hoping for – why did their mother suddenly stop talking? And why had she said so little about her past in Lebanon? Hellbent on unveiling her mother’s secrets, Jeanne leaves Montreal for her mother’s homeland. Simon doesn’t share his sister’s hopes. To him, this eccentricity is just another way for a cold-hearted mother to torment her kids… But his love for Jeanne soon brings him to join her in Lebanon. Helped by Jean Lebel, the twins slowly piece together Nawal’s heartbreaking story: that of a life mortgaged by the self-fueling cycle of war and hate… and finally discovering their mother’s exceptional courage and resolve. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad’s acclaimed play,Incendies (Scorched) takes an unbiased and painfully poetic look at the roots of all wars through two young adults’ personal voyage to the core of hatred and enduring love.

Incendies won 34 international awards including both Genie and Jutra Awards for Best Picture in 2011.
Also see: This film was selected as one of the Top 10 Canadian Films of the 2010s.