LFF 2009 - Film Selections Part 1

The submission period for the 2009 Lebanese Film Festival (LFF) is now closed. Thank you to everyone who sent works for consideration.

During the next few weeks, the LFF blog will introduce the selected films (in no particular order). Over thirty works will be chosen for screening. ..né.à Beyrouth is proud to present the first five selections of this year's festival:

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Dans le Sang

by Katia Jourjoura

Lebanon, 2009 - Short Movie

Beirut, 19 years after the civil war. Farès, a former militiaman of the the "New Lebanon" party, wants to get his wayward son off the streets and convince him to keep out of the violence, which is gripping the country once more.

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Promenade

by Sabine El Chamaa

Lebanon, 2009 - Short Movie

An elderly woman wanders into her war-ravaged house and collects pieces from its ruined walls. In the privacy of her new home, she rebuilds a wall, stone by stone. Situated between reality and imagination, the partially animated film is a reflection of the interplay between war, memories and dreams.

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Once Upon a Sidewalk

by Gheith Al-Amine

Lebanon, 2009 - Experimental

Gheith Al-Amine says: "This video attempts to recreate the same invading colors and feelings I experienced nine years ago once upon a Saturday night on Monot Street."

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Darson fil tarikh

by Hady Zaccak

Lebanon / Qatar, 2009 - Documentary

In 1989, the deputies gathered together in Taef and decided to consolidate books about history and civil education in Lebanon. A unified history book has yet to come to fruition. Instead, there are several history books reflecting different versions of history.

"Darson fil tarikh" ("A Lesson in History") follows history classes in five different schools located in Greated Beirut. Although the curriculum is standardized for all third year students according to the 1970 edict, contradictions emerge through interviews with the students themselves, who come from different backgrounds and affiliations. The history of Lebanon has been in arrested development since the country's independence.

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In Place: 4 Returnees from the Lebanese Civil Wars

by Monika Borgmann and Lokman Slim

Lebanon, 2009 - Documentary

"In Place: 4 Returnees from the Lebanese Civil Wars" forgoes simplifying the violence that afflicted Lebanon. Instead, Monika Borgmann and Lokman Slim offer viewers a kaleidoscopic view of various conflicts and actors.

The film joins together four interviews, each one a separate act in the drama of the Lebanese Civil Wars. Former leaders continue to hold respectable positions. Their confidence shines through in their interviews. Former grunts continue to hold marginalized positions. They give furtive interviews under the cover of anonymity. The wars affected the fates of each in different ways.