Lebanon has been known as the country of diversity. Throughout history, Lebanese people have found it hard to agree on one pact that will allow all this social, religious, economic and cultural multiplicity to live in harmony. If we would come to describe Lebanon, we would settle on it being the country of “opposites”. Now, trying to frame the Lebanese culture or define its identity would seem like an unreasonable task. For example; it is a very liberal society but conservative. We adapt Western ideologies but we are so attached to our Eastern traditions. We are so bowed to our past but we never learn from it and we keep on repeating the same mistakes that disturb our present. We have always lived in between and so is our identity, lost in between. The film lineup of the three below programs is nothing but a mirror effect of this culture that has been always in pursuit for its self.
Curator: Nicolas Khabbaz, NDU International Film Festival
Nicolas Khabbaz was born in Lebanon. He graduated in filmmaking, and holds a Ph.D. in cinema where he studied the cinema of small nations and the question of its identity. He has become the program director of the NDU International Film Festival and the Batroun Mediterranean Film Festival. Since 2012, he has been Director of the Audiovisual Arts Department at NDU. Between 2005 and 2020 he has produced 16 theatre plays, written and directed by Georges Khabbaz, with whom he co- founded KAY Production. Khabbaz has participated in several international festivals around the world as a filmmaker, jury member and curator. He has produced several award-winning short films. His film ON THE ROPES (2016, director: Manon Nammour), premiered in Locarno film festival. BARAKAT (2019, also by Nammour) premiered in Toronto International Film Festival.
SHE LEADS: Against the Current
The group of films in this program is written and directed by female filmmakers and feature, mostly, a female character that lead the story. It reflects the common concerns and the collective rage of their rebellious makers.
Submarine / Lebanon 2016. Fiction. 20’. Director: Mounia Akl
In White / Lebanon 2016. Fiction. 15’. Director: Dania Bdeir
On the Ropes / Lebanon 2016. Fiction. 17’. Director: Manon Nammour
Disruption / Lebanon 2017. Fiction. 26’. Director: Feyrouz Serhal
The Shield that I Carry / Lebanon 2017. Documentary. 19’. Director: Basma Farhat Kino Muza / Sala 1 / 18.03.2020 / 18:15 / 90’
Kino Muza / Sala 1 / 22.03.2020 / 18:15 / 90’
THE SURREAL REALITY
This program reflects the absurdity of the daily life in Lebanon. It exposes the fragility and
inability of the dominated social and political order.
Streets of Death / Lebanon 2017. Documentary. 22’.Director: Karam Ghossein
Last Days of the Man of Tomorrow / Lebanon 2017. Fiction. 29’.Director: Fadi Baki
White Noise / Lebanon 2017. Fiction. 21’. Directors: Ahmad Ghossein, Lucie La Chimia
Ostrich Politics / Lebanon 2018. Animation. 6’. Director: Mohammad Houhou
Kino Muza / Sala 1 / 19.03.2020 / 18:15 / 90’
THE NEIGHBOR IS A THREAT
Boarders, Refugees, and the intervention of the neighboring countries in the general state security. This program is more like a geographical and cultural positioning of Lebanon and the conception of otherness whether a foreign or a fellow Lebanese other.
Salamat From Germany / Lebanon 2017. Fiction. 20’. Directors: Una Gunjak, Rami Kodeih
Contact /Lebanon 2019. Fiction. 22’. Director: Samir Syriani
The Rifle, the Jackal, the Wolf and the Boy / Lebanon 2016. Fiction. 19’. Director: Oualid Mouaness
Heart of the Sky / Lebanon 2018. Documentary / music video. 15′. Director: Jessy Moussallem
President’s Visit / Lebanon 2017. Fiction. 19’. Director: Cyril Aris
Kino Muza / Sala 1 / 21.03.2020 / 19:00 / 90’
