LFF 2009 - Film Selections Part 3

Here are seven more selections for the 2009 Lebanese Film Festival.

Including the ones listed below, a total of 17 film selections have been announced thus far. Stay tuned for more...

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Zeid wa Leila

by Jad Sarout

Lebanon, 2009 - Animation

Zeid and Leila wake up in their new apartment.

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Le deuil de la cigogne joyeuse

by Eileen Hofer

Lebanon, 2009 - Short movie

The dramatic reconstruction of a key day in the life of a couple who has since left Lebanon. Nasri and Nour await nightfall to flee the mounting political tensions in their country. Convinced they will be able to return to Beirut soon, they bring with them only the bare necessities. Little do they know that they are leaving behind the fond memories of a paradise lost.

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P like Paranoïa

by Rami Kodeih

Lebanon, 2008 - Video clip

A psychopathic and paranoid character confronts three states of heart and mind in escalating situations: weakness, decision and vengeance from illusions.

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Janoub

by Nizar Hassan

Palestine / Lebanon, 2008 - Documentary

In August 2006, in the midst of the war between the Shiite party Hezbollah and the Israeli army in Lebanon, a controversial article was published in the Lebanese newspaper Al Nahar. "To Be a Shi'ite Now," written by Shiite psychology professor Dr. Mona Fayyad, was a harsh criticism of the Hizbollah party and its sympathizers.

This article sparked a lively debate amongst Shia and Arab intellectuals about the Shiite identity. It motivated Palestinian filmmaker Nizar Hassan to make a personal film in Lebanon - a journey of discovery and an attempt to define and/or redefine the Shiite current reality, identity and role. During this journey he meets five Shiite characters from five different horizons and generations: Mona, Bissan, Issam, Luman and Anwar are five rich and colorful experiences, who dreams converge in one point: to live in a non-sectarian country.

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Mercredi

by Talal Khoury

Lebanon, 2009 - Short movie

On Wednesday morning, Khaled wakes up and faces a frenzied day, which starts with his girlfriend's hormonal crisis.

Omar wakes up and attempts suicide, but fails. He is subjected to his daily life and his wife, whom he refers to as "Monster."

Mohamad is a kleptomaniac -- he has stolen his friend's wife.

On a day like any other, these completely common characters live in an atmosphere in which surrealism starts to take over.

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9 Août

by Talal Khoury

Lebanon, 2009 - Short movie

"9 Août" is an illustration of one of Mahmoud Darwish's poems. The poem emphasizes the tragic and human side of the martyr's persona.

The film is a visual journey that combines public and private experience and follows the lives of a couple separated by a death called "heroic."

It pays tribute to Arabic poetry through a combination of the language of film and music with that of poetry.

This film is the second part of a trilogy that illustrates three poems, each written by a different Palestinian poet. The trilogy has been created in hopes of presenting the Palestinian experience as intellectual and cultural resistance.

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Film of Welcome and Farewells

by Corine Shawi

Denmark, 2009 - Documentary

Five persons are observed during farewells. The loss spreads throughout Copenhagen, in fragmented landscapes, bodies and emotions.While our hearts are crucified by loneliness and detachment, we demand a change and only hope for a welcome.

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