Cannes 2011

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

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 of 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.

Update 2: Below a new released Music Clip for the original song Sa'at Sa'at  directed by Daniele Arbid, composed by Zeid Hamdan and performed by Darine Hamze.

Stray Bullet - رصاصة طايشة

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؟

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

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.