LFF 2009 - Film Selection Part 4

Here are 9 more selections for the 8th edition of the Lebanese Film Festival. Including the ones below, a total of 26 films have been announced.

There will be one more blog post introducing all of the remaining film selections.

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Video 1

by Carine Doumit

Lebanon, 2009 - Cinematic Essay

Carine Doumit explains: "Beirut is a town that one leaves. Fadi has left for Saudi Arabia, Nadine for the United Kingdom, Youssef for Albania and Mira for the United States. As for me, I am still in Beirut. They often tell me stories about their cities. They write, take photos and even make small videos. Sometimes, I believe I know exactly what those cities look and smell like based on their stories. In reality, I can never be sure of what I believe I know about those cities. I like to imagine my own stories in those cities and make my own 'videos' of my life there. The result is 'Video 1', three attempts to overcome time and distance."

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Thawb el ghayr la youdfe

by Roy Arida

France, 2009 - Documentary

Khalil Yahya was born in 1965 in Hebron, Paletine. After being forced to leave his country after the Six-Day War in 1967, Khalil traversed the Arab world from city to city and refugee camp to refugee camp until he found refuge in Paris, where he currently lives. This film attempts to tell the story of this man's exile and, through his two daughters, deals with the questions of generational transmission of a history, of a cause and of an identity.

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Ramure en Mer

by Joane Baz

France, 2008 - Animation

This project is based on a Japanese haiku: "Mon pays natal / Detrempé par la pluie / Je le foule pieds nus"

Lebanon is represented by a small boat that never sails.

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Ahwak

by Zeid Hamdan

Lebanon, 2009 - Video clip

A woman is dreaming of her impossible love.

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Beirut wa Beirut wa Beirut

by Assi Rahbani

Lebanon, 2008 - Short movie

"Beirut wa Beirut wa Beirut" is the story of a transitory encounter between a taxi driver and an American photographer. A quiet and bizarre looking American photographer arrives at the seemingly desolate and dysfunctional Rafik Hariri International Airport, where he is picked up by the eccentric ex-warrior turned taxi driver Abou Adal. Abou drives the photographer to his requested destination, the so-called "Hotel Beirut."

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Hybride

by Maryline Farah

Lebanon, 2008 - Animation

Alone, he wanders through the desert, oppressed by the burden of his everyday life, when all of a sudden...

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Gunz

by Amandine Brenas

Lebanon, 2008 - Animation

Somewhere in Beirut in the mid-80s, a young girl decides to change the world through pixels.

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Lahza ayyha al Majd

by Shirine Abou Chaqra

Lebanon, 2009 - Documentary

What is a diva? A woman with extraordinary talent, who sings to release a breath that comes from an almost divine sphere, whose voice is subtle yet powerful and who, thanks to provocative and emotional texts, sets audiences on fire every time she performs.

Waddad was nine when she started singing live on the radio. Since then, her voice has been heard almost every day on Arab radio stations. Her recipe was simple, and yet no-one else has managed to master it. Because of her Jewish origins, conversion to Islam, tumultuous love affairs, stormy character, stage rivals and the political situation, she was steadily pushed towards anonymity. This film is a journey through mind-blowing music that attemps, using events in Wadad's life, to portray a diva and her decline.

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Masaft al Sikka

by Shirine Abou Chaqra

Lebanon, 2009 - Animation

Flu'adi is a puppet made up of scraps and bits and pieces. One night, Flu'adi's dreams are so intense and the night strange the he loses his head. When he awakes, Flu'adi looks for his head, but to no avail. In a moment of despair, he sits on a chair, and out of nowhere a small camera jumps on him, replcaing his head. And so, Flu'adi starts his journey in search for his missing head. As he walks, swims and flies across the Arab world, he sees and comments through the camera...

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