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.

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.