Filmmaker Pierre Sidaoui and his family left Lebanon in 1988. The narrator explains that they left by sea and were searching for peace at a time of civil war. Family photos and Lebanese music add to the story.

Using sound and visuals, filmmaker Pierre Sidaoui depicts life in Lebanon during the civil war of the 1980s. Describe why his father left the country in 1988.

Growing up in the small Lebanese town of Abey, Pierre Sidaoui had a carefree childhood. But civil war forced him and his family to flee their hometown in 1982, the first in a series of moves that would ultimately separate him from his parents, brother and sisters.

He arrived in Montreal at the age of 30 and has made the city his home. A decade later, Sidaoui pauses to reflect. His precious family photos, carefully kept in a shoebox, bring forth a flood of memories--of family, landscapes, music and war.

Sidaoui's father, who found refuge in Mexico, remains a constant inspiration. Through his father's journals, poems and letters, Pierre rediscovers the joyful and profound nature of the man who raised him.

A Scent of Mint is a touching meditation on the pursuit of happiness and the immigrant experience. Shot in Montreal, the film's images draw an unlikely parallel between a Lebanese village and a Canadian metropolis. The relationship between the two places reminds us that no matter what happens, our true home lives within ourselves.