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.

Everyday is a holiday - كل يوم عيد

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

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

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.