Lebanese Films

1958 - ١٩٥٨

2012-02-09T09:55:00.000-08:00

Trailer for "1958"

While waiting for the screening of the movie, people were wondering among different materials in the exhibition named "Revolution vs. Revolution" at the Beirut art center. When the screening starts, one can deduce why the movie blends naturally in the theme of the ongoing exhibition. As the name suggests, the "essay" movie (as described by the director), the movie revolve around the year of the birth of Salhab and the different events that stormed his home country during that time. Based on the testimony of his mother (the pillar of the movie as called by the director), the story of the internal violent conflicts were told in parallel, while the testimony focuses more on the mother's feelings when going to Dakar and having her first child. The father testimony was absent, while other testimonies were added to give some equilibrium (was it needed?) to the story. Mixed with few French poems written by the director, some archive footage, and dramatized scenes, the movie offered the audience a retrospective on an integral part of the Lebanese History that was chosen to be forgotten.

Beirut Hotel (review) - بيروت بالليل

2012-02-01T04:30:00.000-08:00

Trailer for "Beirut Hotel"

Lebanese audience watched this feature in defiance to the infamous ban that is imposed, and proved that such censorship is rather meaningless in a connected world. Arte channel, a main contributor to the movie, screened Beirut Hotel earlier in January. The movie was scheduled to be released in Lebanese theaters prior to the TV release, but the ban prevented this from happening. The movie is carefully made, and it was selected for many festivals, there is no clear reason why it wasn't selected for Cannes this year although it was supported by "The Atelier". The actress Hamze was playing one of her best roles in her career, thanks to Arbid's direction. Nevertheless, few problems arose related to the erotic scenes in the original trailer. Overall, Arbid is proving once more her great talent by a successful third movie attracting audience (Western and Arabs). The plot revolves around a love affair intersecting with a spy story. As in her previous movie, the main cast is divided between a French actor, and an Arab one. They met by chance, and the French begin stalking the Arab until they bond together. The cinematography is rather eye-candy, revealing an appealing Beirut in a colorful picture. The unfortunate ban have contributed to raising awareness among the population and promoting the movie (approximately 1.5 million watched the TV release including 700,000 in France alone + 34,000 on the web). The last chance to watch Beirut Hotel on arte is scheduled on February 4th 01:40 GMT+1.

Territory of Rose - خلة وردة

2012-01-30T05:34:00.000-08:00

Trailer for Territor of Rose

After directing many music videos and advertisement, Adel Serhan had a first experience in feature movie Territory of Rose. The movie tells a story of a village during the occupation of South Lebanon and the atrocities committed by Lahd conspirators army. Despite the harsh reality, the film managed to gather a light touch of humor and a challenging entertaining plot. Nevertheless, the low production budget imposed itself by a humble quality of many technical aspects (photography, makeup, etc). For some reason, the projection in theaters had a DVD resolution, which devalues the picture quality enormously. Nevertheless, it's an entertaining movie, and will satisfy a big share of the audience expectations.

Censorship craze

2011-12-10T05:01:00.001-08:00

Artistic creations in Lebanon is facing a new challenge with the recent announcement about canceling the long-awaited screening of Beirut Hotel in Lebanon theaters by the censorship committee. As suggested, the film was banned due to political reason, not for the intimate scenes inside, it was considered as it would "endanger Lebanon's security"! We hope that this decision will be reverted quickly and witness the release of the film soon in Lebanon.

We take this occasion to hope best luck for the director Danielle Arbid during the screening of this movie in Dubai during the DIFF. Apparently the margin of freedom is getting wider in Dubai, in contrast to Beirut.

Note: Thanks for the Independist for pointing out to this sad story.

Ok, Enough, Goodbye - طيّب، خلص، يلّا

2011-12-05T11:51:00.001-08:00

Scenes from "Ok, Enough, Goodbye"

The main theme of this movie is the city of Tripoli. Painted in beautiful colors and the enjoyable dialect of the second Lebanese city, this feature manages to attract the audiences by a light comedy, yet charged with analysis of the society in the general Lebanese life. Among the thoughts that emerge upon watching it is the reliance of the Lebanese male on women. When the mother of the main character leaves home (for a reason that would've been better accepted if explained more in the script), he exhaust every available means to compensate her absence. I will avoid any spoilers, it's an amusing first film made by young directors a Lebanese Tripolitan Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia, a foreigner. As described by the film makers, the production was mainly a "two person" work, with most cast selected among Rania's own family, reducing the budget to a micro one. Nevertheless, the movie is fun and highly recommended... Hoping to be screened in Tripoli soon!

One of the used posters

The Mountain - الجبل

2011-11-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

Trailer of "The Mountain"

The latest movie by Ghassan Salhab, The Mountain, follows the style of The Last Man with the minimum use of conversations and reduce the cast to almost one actor with all the difficulties that ensue when producing under such decision. The movie tells the story of a man who decides to isolate himself to concentrate on wirting in some hotel room in a remote mountain region. The isolation is nearly complete with TV, phones and other means of communication cut-off, but also the window closed down, hence loosing the sense of day and night. Fadi Abi Samra who plays the leading role impersonates the isolated man situation in a very convincing way. Ghassan Salhab manages another time to escape from the cliché themes originating from movies in our region to draw fictional scenes that can be set anywhere (despite some elements that would relate to Lebanon such as radio news stories). Some ideas in the movie can be seen echoed in other features like A Lost Man which tells the story of a man who decided to run away from his country, or The One Man Village a documentary where a single man lives alone isolated in a far away village. Salhab was able to shed the light on this issue in a new angle, tickling the memory of the viewer of similar moments of loneliness, and the corresponding audio and visual sensations that follows. This film is not a general public movie, nonetheless, it will provide a new interesting experience to the viewer.

Where do we go now? (review) - وهلّأ لوين؟

2011-09-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

HD trailer of Where do we go now?

After long wait, Labaki's second feature is released in Lebanese theaters. Unfortunately, this time Lebanon was not a priority on the release schedule, France beat us to be the first to release the movie to the public :-(.

To describe the movie simply, it's a must-see exquisite tale full of emotions, inspirations and motivations. Anyone should enjoy it. It's a movie about peace, not war. Unlike what some myopic Western critics say that it's a movie about a war between Christians and Muslims, it is wiser to see it as a universal movie to eliminate division, to reduce discrimination of all forms (not only religious), and avoid wars. In contrast to In the Battlefields, it should be noted that Where do we go now? throws the division problems to outsider agents, and avoid tackling the hatred that is originating from within. Nevertheless, It merits all the awards that it's currently gathering. The music, along with the intelligent lyrics by Tania Saleh, makes an integral part of the story and cannot be separated. You can enjoy the complete original score at Mouzanar's myspace. Although it may reveal some of the plot, even if listened apart.
The actors are very natural, most noticeably talented is clearly Claude Baz playing as Takla. The microcosm goal of Labaki was reached successfully. Nadine's directing talent becomes very clear by her manipulation of the emotion with such an ease: flipping the audience from laughter to tears in seconds. As in Caramel, the messages are passed smoothly to the viewer. Nadine is very talented in knowing how to attract the viewers, and she continues to confirm this assertion with each new work. This debuted long ago when she started her career, but it's getting more obvious with the collection of audience prizes almost everywhere: Tornoto Festival, and the San Sebastián Festival (for her second feature, she lost to second place by a thin margin of a mere 32 votes out of 9,046).

Even though it might be considered as Nadine's signature, some transitions might be felt interrupted, but at no time, it may disturb.

My single complaint is that, for some reason, the Lebanese theaters decided to include subtitles for Lebanese audience! Why would anyone think that the Lebanese people need English subtitles to understand Arabic in Lebanese dialect?!! Whose decision is it anyway? Unfortunately, aside distracting the viewer from the beautifully set scenes, the subtitles even spoiled and overrode the nicely designed movie Arabic title at the beginning :-(. One might think that subtitles are added for foreigners, but it becomes even more disturbing when you witness English passage went untranslated to Arabic. Usually, one or two theaters may include subtitles, but to implement this decision nation-wide might be considered somewhat offending! Note that, when Caramel was released, the release date in Lebanon preceded that of France, and the film was released without any subtitles in the theaters.

Among minor "glitches" (or minor directing mistakes), I couldn't help noticing that the only victim received a bullet in a place that should be normally protected with the worn helmet, yet the helmet remains intact. Another glitch, the cross got broken in a visibly artificial way, leaving behind 2 bars with the sawed regular (rectilinear) sections clearly apparent.

TIFF Victory!

2011-09-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

"Where do we go now?" won the prestigious People's Choice Award at Toronto Film Festival. Unfortunately, Labaki was not present there to deliver a speech.

We would like to congratulate Labaki and her team for their success in making such a good movie. The movie is already enjoying a popular success among French film viewers since its public release few days ago.

A reminder that in the recent years, previous winners at TIFF won the Best Picture Oscars at the Academy Awards.

Cannes 2011

2011-05-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Among the films in the official competition of the 2011 Cannes festival we should mention "Where do we go now?" by Nadine Labaki. The movie, as noted in previous posts, is showing in the section "Un certain regard". You may find here few teasing scenes from the movie as well as some exquisite stills, as well as the beautiful movie title above. We hope the best luck to Labaki and her team. The screening of the movie is scheduled on Monday, May 16 at 1400 and 2200 in salle Debussy, for those who will be lucky to attend in Cannes.

Beirut Hotel - بيروت بالليل

2011-04-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

Trailer for Beirut Hotel

The year 2010 was a busy year in Lebanese movies production. After the successful release of Stray Bullet, two more movies produced in 2010 are very promising, Where do we go now? made it to the Cannes selection, but another movie that was also rumored to make it to the official selection was that of the prominent director Danielle Arbid. The movie is called Beirut Hotel, and the trailer gets us impatient until the release the full feature. Beirut Hotel is the third long feature by this distinguished director. We can feel from the few scenes in the trailer the presence of the flesh and violence in an artistic way as an essential ingredients as we've seen before in previous movies of Arbid. I hope to watch it very soon in Lebanese theaters.

Update: On the eve of the DIFF opening, Lebanese censorship committee decided to cancel the screening of the movie in Lebanon theaters that were scheduled to debut in January.

Stray Bullet - رصاصة طايشة

2010-12-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

Trailer of "Stray Bullet"

This new movie is enjoying very nice critics while showing in festivals worldwide. We hope for a soon release in Lebanon, to be able to watch and comment. Georges Hachem gathered all aesthetic elements in one beautiful piece to recreate a beautiful atmosphere of a once war-torn Lebanon in the 70's. You may notice among the cast Labaki playing as the main character "Noha".

Update: After watching the movie, the viewer will be charged with emotion. It's an excellent movie from almost all artistic apects. Labaki's role in Stray Bullet dwarfs her leading role in her own movie Caramel. The music is very well composed for the scenes. The viewer will be feeling the war in the background since the start, even before the violent related scenes. Despite the successful attempt to bring the 70's era, some details from the post-war Lebanon escaped to the foreground, more notably the street lights that accompany us until the ending scene. Hachem has shown great talent in his first long feature in this universal story. We should note that some messages reverberate from other Lebanese movies like In the Battlefields: The war begun from inside Lebanese homes before to evolving into clashes between rival groups.

Below a short commentary from Hachem

on his reel during London Film Festival.

Where do we go now? - وهلّأ لوين؟

2010-11-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

A still from the film

Apparently, Nadine Labaki is going to treat the inter-religous tensions in her new film, along with some focus on the interaction of the women inside the society. The film is set to be released in May (probably during the next Cannes film festival). The main crew seems to be unchanged from her Caramel: the producer, her husband, and herself. The shooting is set to last for 2 months (projected deadline: 18 December).
Labaki's husband will enjoy a bigger role in the movie through his music. We can expect a movie with the taste of a musical.
Nadine is an acknowledged movie maker, we wish her the best luck with this new reel (not that she needs it!). Hopefully, we will get more details about the movie while in-production.

Update: As expected, Labaki is premiering this feature during 2011 Cannes Film Festival in "Un Certain Regard" section parallel to the official competition. We wish Labaki best luck.

The movie was shot partly in Taybe village near Baalbeck

The one man village - سمعان بالضيعة

2009-11-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

Making of "The one man village"

This documentary focuses on the Lebanese old way of life. The director Simon El-Haber was somewhat lucky to find a relative (his uncle) who made a choice to distance himself away from the city into an inhabited village where he will become later the only resident. The film would've been a documentary around the traditional Lebanese village, but the presence of only one man in the village, and the fact that the village was emptied during the war raises several questions in the viewers mind. Although peace is reigning nowadays, the vast majority of the residents have chosen to remain in the city, with the exception of this one man who didn't find in the city what attracted the others. He is yet to found a family, the emphasis on this issue was somewhat ridiculously funny in the movie especially when the director asked this same question (I remember one audience member who made a joke that this might be the most original way for a marriage advertisement). All in all, the viewer will be raising questions in the end about what is the city providing so people are leaning towards the crowded hard life in the city over the simplicity and the nature in the village.

Everyday is a holiday - كل يوم عيد

2009-08-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

Trailer for "Every day is a holiday"

I didn't yet have the chance to watch the movie by Dima El-Horr, but the trailer seems pretty promessing. Among the main cast, we find Hiam Abbass a prominent Palestinian actress and Manal Khader the once journalist who starred Elia Suleiman's masterpiece "Divine Intervention". Best luck for the launch of this movie, I do not have much details about it, but will update this post whenever I get the chance to watch it and/or further details arise.

Young Talent

2009-07-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

Demo Reel by Nareg Kalenderian

Special effects in Lebanese films require much attention, and are in most cases absent because the industry lacks generally the tools and the professionals. Academic institutes in this small country does not give the needed priority to such specialty although it has been used extensively in Advertisement making. This did not hold Nareg Kalendrian from perfecting his talent in manipulating the 3D world to make his imaginations come to reality by creating breathtaking graphics. It's worth noting that Nareg is self-taught, yet what he achieved in his 'Demo Reel 2008' used to be made exclusively by production studios and big games companies such as Blizzard. He did not only prove that Lebanese may achieve high quality effects, but also that an individual can compete alone to match outstanding Computer Generated graphics. Currently, Nareg work as a freelancer, but his talent has caught the attention of big companies. He worked with Aljazeera on animated clips, and on some advertisements. I hope he can work his talent on a completely computer generated music video since this industry doesn't lack funding and should be considered as one way to bring talents into light.
I wish Nareg is working on completing his reel into a full feature (or medium length) film, because after enjoying seeing his vision, we find ourselves in need to find the story behind. I understand the amount of resources such a project takes, but I also believe that when presenting this piece to producers they will be more than happy to collaborate with this young talent.

Beirut Diaries - يوميات بيروت

2009-05-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

a screenshot from Beirut Diaries

Mai Masri is a remarkable talented director. Her commitment to emphasize on the civil community in the Arab world shines in the documentaries. I'll devote this post to her award winning feature that focuses on the Lebanese youth during the Independence Intifada (unlike to what Western media entitled it!). She focuses on the journey of a young Lebanese girl, Nadine, who was camping in the city center after the tragic death of PM Hariri. The young people were shown vibrant, full of hope and determinant. Despite not belonging to the same political movement, they managed to gather together, and even, with the help of Nadine, get others from opposition to visit the camps where the sit-in was taking place to discuss their different ideas. But soon the mirage fades away, and the youngs start to realize that they were betrayed by politicians who gave orders to dismantle the tents as soon as they achieved their goals, while the objectives of those who were building the true core of the intifada for weeks are far away from being achieved, hence revealing the "truth and lies" behind politics in Lebanon.
Masri's works are very educational and enjoyable. Her unique way in documenting historic events goes beyond the shell unlike TV news reports and other media which rely on lazy journalism. I hope the documentaries of Mai Masri will be broadcasted locally for Lebanese to wash away the political blindness from their eyes, and internationally to wash away the stereotypical image of the people in our region of the world portrayed by Western media.

Young Talents

2009-04-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

Watching Lebanese shorts is always an amusing experience. The only bad thing about them, is that they are dispersed and not always easy to find: most of them are not available online, the rest might not be available in high quality or HD.
I believe the young Lebanese should not hesitate in posting their videos online, I find that vimeo provides a good place for artists to share their creations in their original quality.
Few months ago, I spotted on vimeo Chadi Younes page, and was amused by his stylish videos and the classy art. The finesse of his work uncovers this artist as one with a bright forthcoming carrier .

Hafet Taraf by Rima Kcheich - حفلة ترف لريما خشيش

The song by Rima khcheich in the above video only adds to the value of the artwork, which both emphasis on the ongoing situation in Lebanon and the Arab world.

Among the available online Lebanese artworks, I found a good short film depicting what a Lebanese director endure in order to guarantee enough financial support for a given work. Wissam Smayra was lucky to gather in that film what some calls Lebanese "artists' constellation" with major directors, with Nadine Labaki playing a major role.

Es'alni Ana by Sofia Marrikh - اسألني أنا لصوفيا مرّيخ

The above video is one video is a striking one by Smayra, the sensual images and cinematography are not matched in any other work I've seen before, I rate the surreal yet classic video as a success, and believe others agree.

The list of Lebanese artists cannot be covered in one post, but I hope in the future I'll be able to cover other works as I did in the case of Beirut After Shave before the release of the long feature by Hany Tamba. This task can get easier if the youth agree to get out of shadows and share their achievement with the rest to be able to value them. In vimeo, creating a group is among the easiest task, maybe it can be a start to have a library for artists and producers as well.

33 Days - ٣٣ يوم

2009-01-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

a Still from 33 days

22 days have passed and the massacres in Gaza are still being committed in ways no human can understand. A mirroring event, 2 years earlier, Lebanon was pounded continuously, brutally, and in the most cruel ways, for 33 days. Mai Masri documented this period of Lebanon history. As in any similar atrocities, war is fought in more than one front, director Masri, in her documentary, focuses her camera on different fronts on how any ordinary Lebanese was living, keeping distance from direct fire line. Without any scripted narration, the documentary reveals itself as a slideshow of events lived by the people trapped in the conflict. One camera follows the work by a TV news producer and her fight to bring to report the war to citizens and being forced away from her home during all the 33 days period. Another persepective direct our attention to a theater director who had done a marvelous job in entertaining displaced kids. A third front emphasize the efforts done by the civilian community in Lebanon to bring relief aids to refugees. Noting that all those storylines are being shown in parallel, we end up concluding that the efforts described in the documentary are ingredients to a successful resistance movement which led to a merited victory.
For Lebanese, this award winning masterpiece will surely unveil some emotions, maybe make a tear or two drop, but will get us firmly attached to our dignity, our pride, our land, and unity. It should be aired as well on most TV stations, western or local to give the side of wars aside what the news reports bring.
Mai Masri is a Palestinian director, I am not sure whether she can produce a similar documentary about the ongoing war in Gaza without being present there. But the tragic events should be documented in the same way it have been done during the war in Lebanon, even if conditions are much more difficult.

Related posts: Under the bombs, Slingshot Hip hop, Salt of this sea

SlingShot Hip Hop - هيب هوب المقلاع

2009-01-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

In the light of the tragic events that are shredding Gaza (which remind me to the latest infamous war against Lebanon in 2006 with ironically very similar circumstances), this post will be dedicated to the new award-winning documentary by Jackie Salloum: Slingshot Hip Hop.

Slingshot Hip Hop Trailer

Despite all the borders, walls, checkpoints, and the apartheid regime, this feature reveals the unity of the Palestinian population wherever they are. The movie is surprisingly amusing for a documentary, it reveals youth life and the continuing will to overturn the outcomes of the oppression imposed on occupied people. It highlights suavely different talents mainly in Hip Hop, that are blooming against the occupation and the indignity. The music they compose is enjoyable by youth, but also by elder people as some scenes indicates. That kind of culture is one way towards breaking the chain that imprisons bodies, but not minds of occupied people.
To resume, director Jackie Salloum redefines, and successfully corrects the image of the Arabs with respect to the vilification that floods screens of every westerner.
No one can ignore the big talent of Salloum, you can easily enjoy her studies about the western media vs. Arabian media by playing the videos below side by side; the first one emphasize the dehumanization of Arabs in the West medias, the other shows Arabs from their own eyes (mainly a successful montage from different Lebanese and Egyptian films).

Planet of the Arabs (up left), and Arabs a Go-go (lower right) by Jackie Salloum

I can only hope such movie reach a wide audience not only in the middle-east, but especially in Europe and USA.
Note that this is not the first post on a Palestinian movie, I would remind of another one discussing the great feature Salt of This Sea.

Une Chanson dans la tête - ميلودراما حبيبي

2008-09-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Trailer for Melodrama Habibi

Hani Tamba released this long fiction, his first one in France, a pity that it wasn't released earlier in Lebanon this crowded summer. My beliefs is that it would have compete well with the other American movies. In France, it might not be considered as general public movie, but the first days it was a hit I suppose. The movie made a great bi-lingual movie, although some lines may not seem as natural for Lebanese (an oracle which speaks almost exclusively in French!) which reveals the Lebanese openness to other cultures. Behind the story, the most highlighted theme that we may extract is the focus on the memory, and how weak are humans relying on it. This theme can be touched in the director's award winning short After Shave where we can find other common subjects. One of these, is his choice of the music composer, Khaled Mouzanar whose talent marked his wife's movie as well. Regarding the cast, I was excited with Julia Kassar's presence, it's a shame that her role was so short, even though her talent was shining in the little space she was given.
Even though the ending was a bit pessimistic for Lebanon future, in my opinion, this Tamba's first feature was a success, only missing its release in Lebanon.

In Memoriam ...

2008-08-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

This week witnessed a big loss for the Lebanese artistic community. A great talent that contributed in defining lines of Arabic and Lebanese films would not be forgotten any time soon. Her marks will remain shining in the history of our culture.

Her best known works include "The Kite" which was honored with the silver Lion award in the Venice film festival.

Randa Chahal, Rest In Peace...

I want to see - بدّي شوف

2008-06-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

"I want to see" Trailer

It's not clear in what category to put this movie, It's not a short since its duration passed an hour, not a fiction neither since what we see is a real story, and not a documentary (is it?) where every thing is programmed. You might think it's a media report about a journey visit of the French actress Catherine Deneuve to a disaster zone (few months after the disaster). The camera was almost exclusively pointed at Mrs Deneuve, and sometimes at Rabih Mroueh. During this one day journey, Catherine visited the southern suburbs for a short period of time, then continues to Bent Jbeil, the hometown of Rabih. He showed deep emotions in his quest to find his grand mother house with all the destruction around, Catherine was only trying to find out where Rabih have gone, showing little interest of her surrounding. During the rest of the movie, Catherine appeared tired of the trip, maybe because she could not support what she wanted to see? In all the movie, she gives the impression of being passive, unless for one scene where we see her reacting when Rabih was talking about her movies! The last scene where she was showing respect and appreciation for Rabih, was a beautiful moment to see.
The movie included beautiful scenes from the south, with the plain of dancing wheat expressing high aesthetic taste, the other which focused on machines and ruins is well moving.
In short, I see this movie as an experimental piece - the directors called it a cinematographic adventure - which is not (AFAIK) aiming to reach general public, but tells a real story free from faking emotions, or alien scenes. It simply shows a beautiful work depicting reality behind stars we used to see them acting.

Interview with Rabih Mroueh

"I want to see" presentation at Cannes

Thoughts about Cannes 2008

2008-06-01T04:18:00.000-07:00

This year in Cannes, there were only one Lebanese movie, halfing the outcome of the last year, which does not reflect a growth in movie industry in this country, yet there have been some notable releases outside Cannes (Falling from earth, Khalass, Under the bombs,...). A post here will be dedicated later to the movie in question "I want to see".
Instead, I'll discuss in this post two non-Lebanese movies.

The fist movie is the latest Palestinian movie, "Salt of this sea" (ملح هذا البحر) by the Palestinian director AnneMarie Jacir, who is living currently in the US.
The movie shows a respectable work, with all elements done in a really professional way. In my opinion, the writer/director aims in this movie is to reach the heart and mind of western public through tough questions and facts about the stolen land. Such questions that are the most obvious for people in the region are recycled also to target Arab as well, even if it was not direct.
What I appreciate about most Palestinian movie that I've seen so far, is that they are not afraid of sharing a political opinion (in this case just facts) in movies, unlike some of the Lebanese movies where they try to avoid, or just surfacing such subjects, leaving the viewer isolated from what the directors consider as taboo subjects. After all, artists purpose was always to blur lines, pushing limits further, etc.
I urge every one to go watch this piece of art/history, the actors were great, scenes are breathtaking, and simply because it's beautiful. It might answers some questions, fix answers we know already, and enlightening our mind with some magic from a stolen land facing a daily life of progressive oppression, repression, occupation, war crimes under international silence,...

"Salt of this sea" Trailer

The other movie, was a shameful selection in Cannes this year, Cannes committee decided that it will be a good idea to include an movie about Sabra and Shatila massacre which took place in 1982 in Palestinian camps in Beirut during the civil war. I haven't seen this movie (and probably will not in near future), but what I was able to dig from the trailer and scenes I've seen in the Internet cloud, it focuses on Israelis paranoia and neglects the tragedy of the lost souls in those unfortunate camps left unprotected. Pushing the blame further towards Lebanese who contributed to such an unexplainable behavior, and putting Israelis as a distant accomplice. Whatever the case, I believe that such movie will remain a dark spot in the 2008 selection, because the director of this movie should be convicted in a war crime court for contributing to such massacre, and taking the movie as a witness and as piece of evidence with the negligible scenes it described. But instead Cannes people decided that honoring criminals for their act is a good thing to do for a reason that escaped my reasoning.
It is shame as well that no long feature were produced by Lebanese nor Palestinian giving such a historical tragedy in human history what it deserves. It surely falls on the taboo side for Lebanese directors.

Under the bombs - تحت القصف

2008-05-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

Trailer of "Under the bombs"

Latest movie by Philippe Aractingi, this is an entire new movie, from a concept point of view. No one will deny the new experience that you will enjoy watching. This piece of art will take the human being into another level, and reveal the unmatched experience of a mother in a quest for a lost child amid the atrocity of an indiscriminate war.
So, as mentioned before, the concept is rather new, it's somewhat a fiction movie, yet it have been shot in an improvised way in the following three days after the fighting ended. You'll find mixed shots between 'real' stories, and fictions, thus pushing emotions further. You'll find the line blurred between those scenes showing a talent in directing, and acting and which underlines the capacity of the director to handle documentaries and fiction easily.
Actress Nada Abou Farhat have already been in an Aractingi long feature 'Bosta', but her role gives another dimension of her talents by looking at the difference between both movies (which emphasize the director as well). Georges Khabaz was moving as well.
The movie have been released in Lebanon last December, and is scheduled for release May 14 later this month in France. Though, One issue remains unclear : the movie was aired on French TV two weeks before its release in Big screen, which is usually done in a reverse way, and after a longer period of time. This question remain to be answered. I understand arte contribution to the movie, but this was the case of 'Caramel' as well as other movies, but air timing was different!
Finally, I hope the message of the film get through, and the movie get the attention it deserves.

Philippe Aractingi interview during 'Venice film Festival'

In the shadows of the city - طيف المدينة

2008-03-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

a screenshot from "In the Shadows of the City"

This film is among the first produced after the civil war that ravaged Lebanon, so it's natural to find it falling into the category that tries to discuss this issue, and more precisely, we found this movie dealing with the evolution of the Lebanese citizen mind with respect to a conflict ravaging its country.
The starting scene shows a family in the south of the country suffering after fights erupts in that region to decide later to go settle in the capital. The main character is Rami a 12 years old boy of this southern family, he grows to be incarnated by Majdi Machmouchi who plays the role in a highly professional way playing a militia man, an ambulance guy, and a person in love.
Despite the fact that during the shooting of the movie, the reconstruction of Lebanon was on its way, the movie team managed, in some sort of race with time, to get pretty successful shots of the Beirut during the war period, mainly focusing on areas and discreet that have'nt being hit by the reconstruction phase and remained in ruins long after the war is over.
Jean Khalil Chamoun did a great job with his first long feature fiction, with a plot, that does not include any surprises, yet the purpose was to show the influence of the war that manipulates people. He managed to include prominent actors like Ahmad Al Zein and Ammar Chalak... The original music by Omar Bashir was well touching. I'm not aware of other fictions by Chamoun, since he's apparently focusing mainly on documentaries for the moment.
The movie was not a box-office hit in Lebanon once it has been released in 2000, mainly because Lebanese were trying to put (and maybe forget) the past behind focusing on the future. Every Lebanese is urged to watch movies of this kind as a faithful description of the civil war and as a way of understanding that civil fighting does not induce gain to any party.

Dunia - دنيا

2008-02-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

Kiss me not on the eyes (Dunia - دنيا) was quite a special movie. First of all, it's an Egyptian movie (if we judge it by the cast, the subject, the location), yet the story, the direction was done by the Lebanese prominent director Jocelyne Saab.
It deals with the issues of females circumcision in Egypt. To do this the director, with a pretty nice cast, made up a story involving love, dance, poetry... all mixed up together into an unusual good sensual Egyptian movie.
The reception of the movie in Egypt was rather disappointing with all the censoring going there, although the film was trying to tackle the circumcision issue from a relative distance so it would be accepted by the Egyptian community.
Jocelyne Saab had been absent from the middle-eastern movies industry scene for about a decade before this movie was revealed. Waiting was surely worth it, her latest is a short named "Broken bridges" or "الجسور المدمرة" about the Israeli indiscriminate aggressive war on the Lebanon. We're waiting for her latest long feature.

Trailer for "Dunia"

Upcoming movies in 2008

2007-12-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

So, the year 2007 have almost ended, with films being welcomed by critics such as "Caramel", and "a lost man". "Under the bombs" or "تحت القصف" by Philipe Aractingi - Director of Bosta - will be released on December 20th in Lebanon to continue showing through trough the upcoming 2008 new year. This film have received pretty good critics, and its trailer looks promising. We should note as well the many awards won by this movie, The Gold Muhr award as well as the best actress award for Nada Abou Farhat was awarded lately during the Dubai Film Festival.

Trailer of "Under the bombs"

"Falling from earth" or "و على الأرض السماﺀ" by Chadi Zeneddine, is scheduled to be released later in 2008 and has already premiered during Dubai Film Festival. Some making of the movie have been released lately, with a great cast including Rafic Ali Ahmad, this movie cannot be but something good (Note that this movie was first titled as "Waiting for Beirut").

Making of "Falling from earth"

"Khalass" or "خلص" by Borhan Alaouie has just been released into some theaters in Lebanon. It's ashame that this movie isn't showing on a much greater scale. Maybe because it have not been considered as a commercial movie. It should be noted as well that this movie have been shown as well during the Dubai Film Festival where it have been awarded two awards: the Best Screenplay award and Best Editor Award.

Stills from "Khalass"

"Melodram habibi" or "ميلودراما حبيبي" the first feature by Hany Tamba - Director of Beyrouth after shave - is scheduled to be released as well in 2008 with a mix between a french and Lebanese team. We're expecting the best from a Cezar winner.

Making of "Melodrama Habibi"

With three movies scheduled to be released till now, we hope that the year 2008 will be a good year for the Lebanese film industry despite all the political conflict in the country and the region. Some films are still under developement, but the release date is not yet clear, for instance Joanna Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige - Directors of A perfect day - are working on some project with Catherine Deneuve called "Je veux voir".

Photo from "Je veux voir"

Finally, I'll remind that "Caramel" is set to be released in american theaters on February 1st 2008 (distributed by Roadside Attractions). The American trailer can be seen below.

The American trailer for "Caramel"

Beirut after shave - بيروت بعد الحلاقة

2007-11-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

"After shave" the award winning short

OK, you must have find it yourself, but I should note that this post will be the first about a short feature, all past posts were orbiting the long features from Lebanon. It's also as you might have find out yourself the first posts where you can watch the whole video that the post is about (not just a trailer). Passing this introduction, if I can call it that, the short tell the story of one man who couldn't accept the death of his wife during the war. The cast was impressive, grouping Rafic Ali Ahmad along with Julia Kassar and having Mahmoud Mabsout and Fadi Raaydi, no wonder it earned the Cezar, what would it got if it was a long!! The story is nicely written, the music is sensual as well (no surprise here since Khaled mouzanar, Caramel's composer is the one who made it for this short, and Labaki chose him after hearing his work in this movie). It was too good for a short, pretty well done. The only regret is that the director didn't hire a Lebanese-only artistic team, it is not bad to have international collaboration, but it would've been good to find what Lebanese can achieve themself. But sometimes this kind of constraints is imposed by the kind of finance a film get. Anyway Hany Tamba did a great job, you can tell yourself since you can watch the whole short here and tell your opinion. We only wish the best for Tamba, and cannot wait to see his new film Melodrama Habibi out.
Below you can find an interview during the filming of "Melodrama Habibi", more interviews about this movie can be found on my youtube channel.

Interview with Hany Tamba about Melodrama Habibi

Zozo - زوزو

2007-10-23T16:02:00.001-07:00

Trailer for "Zozo"

This film is a Lebanese-Swedish movie, directed by the Lebanese-Swedish Joseph Fares. It's not the first to show the Lebanese civil war from children eyes (check for West Beirut, and In the Battlefields) but it shows how the war and its consequences follows a kid beyond the country's borders. So for a boy, once in Sweden, his life is not necessary easier than how it was back in a flaming Lebanon. In fact, I found that in this movie, Zozo's life in Lebanon was full (relatively) of joy, while when he arrived to Sweden it was reduced almost only to disappointments, some may think that it contradicts expectations, some my not share the same opinion, but either way, it was a beautiful way to present such a transition for a young child. In fact, it goes beyond to show how hard for an immigrant (young or old) to integrate into a foreign society (here the grandfather mark a good example).
From what I could've understand, the story is a fiction, but related somewhat to the director's life since he left Lebanon during the civil war when he was ten years old. Following Danielle Arbid and Ziad Doueiri's way to make peace with their past.
Globally the film was good, make fair use of special effects (I think that funding films in Sweden is easier than Lebanon). Actors were pretty good as well; Antoinette Turk's (playing Rita) acted nicely,
Imad Creidi's (as Zozo) role surprised me with his Swedish language and good performance for a child of his age. And then there is Carmen Lebbos, playing perfectly, as she always do, the mother role model.
The script was nicely written from a child eyes, things go smoothly. Though I should point to some minor flaws that come up when trying to see things rationally. For instance, how can a ten years old child go from east Beirut to the mountains (walking??!), then to the airport that easy in a city shredded into two parts? Then once in Sweden writing to Rita without having her address.
In the end I remind that this feature was the representative for Sweden for the 78th academy awards. It needs to be seen since it's a nicely done good movie.

S.L.Film

2007-10-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

"S.L.Film" Poster

So how many comedy Lebanese film you know. Till now, I know only one: S.L.Film, a long feature from the once popular TV show S.L.Shi. Unfortunately, in early 2000's, the show ended few years ago after closing the host TV station following some political conflict that time. The show consisted of short sketches caricaturing the Lebanese way of life. So the long feature came to combine all the known characters of the show into one consistent story. Many of the actors played more than one role, but the most notable acting was, with no doubt, Fadi Raaydi, who incarnated the role of both Fadia El-Sharreka and Pippo. The film is light, you wont stop laughing as long as the movie is showing, although it might require that you are aware of Lebanon's culture (and maybe the show). But you will be more than pleased in the end. The story is simple, the comedy is light, characters are lovely; in short, the best combination a comedy film can get.
Actually, the actors are working in some other similar kind of shows (you can consider them as a "fork" of S.L.Shi) or even talk-shows. Director Shadi Hanna is now directing some TV shows on Rotana TV, and music video clips.
I found that the film was a successful comedy experience, and a bit disapointed that no other comedy films have been produced since!

P.S. I'm launching a call joining the two others for anyone who have the trailer of this movie, as well as the original score and its music video (very funny one) to contact me.

When Maryam spoke out - لمّا حكيت مريم

2007-09-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

"When Maryam spoke out" DVD poster

The most dramatic Lebanese film I've seen yet. So the movie, which is based on a real story, is about a woman called Maryam who lives with her husband happily until they decide, after some pressure from their community, to try to get pregnant. And the rest of the film shows the ways that Maryam takes in order to keep her husband.

Assad Fouladkar, the director, was the among first (to my knowledge) to have enough courage to attack such issues in the Lebanese society. He was able to collect some awards with his feature, and the Lebanese public as well; the film was a success in Lebanon despite the fact that it was screened in one to two theaters.
The drama was too strong, I was amazed with the acting role of Talal El-Jordi, and especially the performance of Bernadet Hodeib, she's one of the most talented youth Lebanese actresses.
I Hope we see other similar movies in the near future, although Fouladkar is now directing Egyptian series, I'm sure he'll gain success, but I personally prefer see his name on movies like this one. So, as you might already guessed, this movie strongly worth being watched.

P.S. I wasn't able to find the trailer of this movie, so I'm giving another call for anyone who have this trailer to send it to me.

Bosta - بوسطة

2007-09-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

Trailer for "Bosta"

This film was a great hit in Lebanon. It was presented as a "100% Lebanese feature film". It's somewhat true since only few Lebanese movies get funding from Lebanese investors. Philippe Aractingi, the writer and director, managed to create a tourism film showing a big part of Lebanese touristic sites.
So as you may already know, the story is about Dabkeh, the traditional Lebanese dance. A group of youth trying to renovate it, and getting rejected by some committee. The story is a bit light, but cheering, colorful,... Some critics called this feature as a Bollywood movie, the director prefers however to put it in Cedarwood category.
Actors were well chosen. Personally, I preferred Liliane Nemri, she always adds a special flavor whenever she contributes to a movie. Sabah appearance gave the movie some extra points. SuperStar presence was notable as well: Rouweida Attieh got a guest role in the movie, Abir Ne'meh dubbed Nadine's voice when singing.
This film does not try to be deep, but surely you'll enjoy it.
Waiting the coming Aractingi movie "Under the bombs", it got its first projection at Venice film festival where it got two awards: the EIUC Human Rights Award and the ARCA Prize for Youths.

A perfect day - يوم اخر

2007-08-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

Trailer for "A perfect day"

The story of A perfect day, like its name indicates, happens only in one day. It starts with a mother speaking to her sleeping son, trying to communicate messages during his sleep with a hope to get its effect during the awakening. It's about ghosts that are haunting the city and/or the country. They are the men that have been disappeared during the civil war, and their families still living with their ghosts ... It's mainly the idea of the film, the role of the mother and son will consist on how they are living in denial and trying to accept that fact (you'll find that both are living the two situation, but in a different way). Discussion are rare in this movie. In fact, during the last half-hour there are some five words that have been exchanged, but this doesn't stop communication by breathing, sleeping, touch, ... Julia Kassar's acting was enchanting, it almost eclipses the roles of other actors, but we should not forget that she's an experienced talented lady after all.
While watching, you see everything done right, but yet feeling that it doesn't reflect real Lebanese life. I'm not aware of the background of the directors/writers, but in the situation that the main characters were playing, you can notice that religion was forced out of the scene. You might understand that for the youth in the film, but with the mother, and her neighborhood, you feel it somewhat wrong.
Overall, I found the pictures in the film ran smoothly ... I was a bit disappointed though that I've seen A lost man before I saw this one, since this one looked for me as a prequel of the latest Arbid movie. I found both discussing the same issue but from different point of view. In this one, Joanna Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige centered their story around the family of a disappeared man, while Danielle Arbid approach followed the path of what've been thought as a man who disappeared during the civil war. Both approach where great, and I found that when you watch both, you cannot ignore the links between both movies.
You should not miss a nice meaningful movie.

The last man - أطلال

2007-08-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Poster for "The last man"

The last man (Le dernier homme or أطلال ) is one of the few Lebanese films (and maybe the first one) that tries to draw a completely fictional film which have nothing to do with the real life in Lebanon. After all who said that a film should represent the life of the country where it came from? It's a thriller movie that does not try to scare: A doctor who's feeling that something not right, keeps finding dead people that he knows، their blood being sucked from their bodies. The hero have a very difficult role where he got to act alone in lots of scenes.
Some shots with a tap dancer where added to the film to "add beauty to the film in the same way an artist adds colors to a painting" as the director Ghassan Salhab said.
Although that this kind of movie isn't intended to the large audience, I found it original and worth seeing.
I wasn't able to find its trailer anywhere, I'd appreciate if someone who have it, would send it to me.

In the Battlefields - معارك حب

2007-08-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

In the battlefields trailer

In the battlefields is among my preferred Lebanese films. It's an auto-biography of the writer/director Danielle Arbid, mixed with some fiction. Although the story tells how a friendship between two girls of different ages evolves through the time of war, throughout the film we see that this friendship became more important for the little girl than the family relation itself. Some may find the film itself as violent, but before coming to such conclusion, is there a way to escape this fact when we tell a story about the time of war?
One of the best scenes there is when Arbid gets in the car (yes there is a shot when Arbid appears in the film), and the old lebanese song starts. I liked as well Carmen Lebbos acting, she's a really skilled actress, we found her in a great part of new Lebanese films as a mother, but a different one every time.
The ending scene is a success: I loved it, yet we see in a way a similar ending scene in the coming film "A lost man".
Even though the film is the first long feature film for Arbid, I found it reflecting life in war in an honest way. The film was awarded in Cannes 2004 during the Directors' Fortnight. But I was a bit astound that the film weren't celebrated in Lebanon with a huge croud, Maybe because Lebanese during that period weren't interrested of hearing about a war that they thought they put it behind ... After all the real issue that the film was discussing is about the cause of that civil war that ravaged Lebanon for some 15+ years (is it really over). It shows that the war started from inside, since even in the same family no one can support the other. Denying though the claims that it's the others war on Lebanese soil (it might be true, but if Lebanese weren't an accepting subject it wouldn't happen). I really appreciated how the director elaborated this idea into the movie in such a successful manner, and don't think that it have been studied this way by anyone before.

A Lost Man - رجل ضائع

2007-07-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Trailer for the film a lost man

A lost man (Un Homme Perdu in French - رجل ضائع in Arabic) is a film by Danielle Arbid, this is her second feature film and the second one to be selected for the Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Realisateurs) at Cannes film festival 2007.
When she introduced this movie she said you'll like it or hate it, but can't be in between. Well, I believe that I fell in the "like it" category, because this film was great: the storyline was deep, acting and directing made the movie look pretty realistic, more than a documentary.

Something I didn't expect in the film, which I liked, was the way it shows the "underground" nightlife in the Arab world (Notably Jordan), this side of the Arab culture that no media talks about, a taboo subject that every body knows the existence but yet in denial !!! I appreciated as well the way Danielle attacked the problem of those who disappeared during the last civil war. Another thing is the way she integrated in her story two totally different persons, a French and an Arab, yet managed to show resemblance, something not that intuitive to detect.
I loved it, and I strongly recommend it.
It's due to be released in France in late 2007 or early 2008 (December - January)

Finally, I would like to note that the language of the film was a combination of Arabic and French (natural since the two leading actors represent different culture). The film contain as well around four erotic scenes, something we're not used to see in Arab (in particular Lebanese) movies. This was the reason I believe why the film wont be shown in Arab countries as the director stated. Something I found bad.

Update: Scenes and Trailer from the film were added.

Press Conference and Film projection with Danielle Arbid at Cannes 2007

Falafel - فلافل

2007-07-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

Falafel Trailer

Falafel (Arabic: فلافل ) is a film directed by Michel Kammoun. This film tells the story of a young Lebanese who got humiliated during a party in front of his (to be) girlfriend, and seeks for vengeance afterwards.
The film was presented in many festivals, and got some honors. Notably, it was premiered during Beyrouth film festival 2006, a month after the Israeli war against Lebanon ended.
From my point of view, I found the film a bit dark since it was almost exclusively shot during the night. It was a way to show the nightlife of Lebanese youth, but also what can oppression lead to. In all, and from what the director said, the movie shows potential events (something that might or not happen in the future), but not events themselves. The story was well built, actors were well chosen, especially when it's the first role for the most of them, and for the rest of the cast, I should note that the professionals like Rafic Ali Ahmad, Adel Karam, Hiam Abou Chedid and others perfromance was outstanding, even if their appearance was relatively brief for few minutes (personally, Rafic Ali Ahmad was the one I liked the most). We should note as well the appearance of the director in a relatively short shot in the film (as the owner of the Falafel shop).
Although the film genre is a bit special, I believe that everyone can enjoy watching it.

Caramel - سكر بنات

2007-07-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

The trailer of Caramel by Nadine Labaki

I was able to watch this movie, the first feature movie by Nadine Labaki. I highly recommend watching it. In fact, no 5 minutes pass without laughing, but this doesn't mean that there were no strong drama scenes. Actors were too good, although it's the first experience for the majority. Everything was very well done from lighting, costume design, music, cinematography, storyline, ... I was really impressed in the way the director/writer choose to end the movie with this great last scene (the one just before the credits), for me I found it too strong, yet very beautiful.
In short this film is a success!!

After the projection Anne-Dominique Toussaint explained that the film was sold up to 35 countries including US and major European countries. It is expected to start showing in France starting august 14. Unfortunately, it was delayed in Lebanon due to current events, although it was planned to be released June 14.

N.B. If you wish to see the movie in an avant-premiere, it is planned to screen as the opening movie of the festival Paris Cinema 2007 (3-14 July).

You can found here and here the press conference at Cannes 2007 and the Film projection at Cannes during the Directors' Fortnight session (La Quinzaine des Realisateurs).
Don't forget to check the wikipedia article as well.

Update: A short trailer with french subtitltes is available now, as well as some trailers on the official website. You can find them as well h e r e or below.
The Film has been scheduled to be released in the US on February 1st 2008. The US trailer can be found here.
La bande-annonce sous-titrée en français est désormais disponible sur le site officiel du film ou i c i.

"Caramel" Music video

The kite - طيارة من ورق

2007-06-27T15:42:00.000-07:00

Trailer for the Kite

The kite (le cerf-volant - طيارة من ورق) has been released on 2003 in Lebanon. It tells a story of young girl who lives in a small druze town in the south of Lebanon near the occupied zone that was controlled by Israel after the 1982 invasion. She was forced to get married to another young boy in a town across the occupied zone. Although the story didn't focus on the Israeli actions during that sad period of occupation, one can easily sense from the film the misery of Lebanese near influence of those occupation forces.
Julia Kassar and Liliane Nemri were great in their acting role. Director Randa Chahal Sabagh successfully reflected the misery of Lebanese near the influence of those Israeli occupation forces without making it as the main subject in the storyline. The film was a drama with a bit of humor every once and then, and having Ziad Rahbani in the movie (even if it was guest star role) gives the film another flavor, while the ending was a bit unexpected.
It's noteworthy that the film collected some 3 awards in the Venice Film Festival 2003, apart some nominations in other film festivals. As its precedents in this blog, watching this movie is strongly recommended.
Waiting Randa Chahal next feature movie ...

West Beirut - بيروت الغربية

2007-06-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

Trailer for West Beirut

Released in 1998, this film was a hit in Lebanon. This was one of the very first films to be produced after the 1975-1990 civil war. Ziad Doueiri the director managed with success to present a movie with great style. You might think that there is some Quentin Tarantino's style, you should not be surprised since Ziad Doueiri was first assistant camera for Pulp Fiction. But he sure made his own style.
The movie was presented during the Directors Fortnight during the Cannes Film Festival 1998 and got some award there. The film got as well the International Critics' Award in Toronto International Film Festival 1998 apart other awards. This alone wont prove that this film is great. All you should do is to watch it yourself and see what I mean.
I simply loved the film, the storyline was great : Teens life during the war. They don't care about religion, and the way they see solution to the problems might be the right solution ... The way he used humor, although the theme was war, touched me: In fact this way the film was showing how Lebanese overcome problems using humor. I loved all actors performance: the beatiful Rola Al Amin (May), Mohamad Chamas (Omar) and all the rest. But I appreciated the most Carmen Lebbos who shows great acting skills in all means. I only question Rami Doueiri's acting (the brother of the director), he wasn't able to make me feel that he's not acting, it wasn't that bad but I felt something was wrong, but I'm not sure about that neither, maybe the director wanted to give this teenager this kind of character. Even though the overall result was more than satisfying. This film is a must see movie for all lebanese.