Manal Issa is keeping her feet firmly on the ground despite new stardom

As she gets ready to present her film in Cork, Manal Issa is doing her best not to get swept up in the hype around her as one of French cinema’s brightest new stars, writes Ellie O’Byrne.

“Finally, she’s with me.” French-Lebanese actress Manal Issa is breastfeeding her five-month-old daughter, Sona, as she gives a phone interview.

The 25-year-old had to travel to war-torn Syria to secure papers for her baby; her husband is from Syria, where the nationality of a mother isn’t automatically conferred, so Issa had to apply first to Syrian authorities and then to the French embassy so that her daughter could join her in France.