There has been much discussion in certain cultural milieus in Beirut about All this Victory (Ar: Jidār al-Sawt, trans: The Sound Barrier). Since I’m one of the few people who’ve seen the film and am in constant conversation with the director, Ahmad Ghossein, and despite preferring absolute silence so that any articles or debates come after having watched the film; but out of respect for writers who we like, and because we value the right to disagree, we had the following conversation.   Rasha Salti: First, there have been articles and views circulating about scenes in your film that were shot in... more

  The film explores the subject of exile and the impact this has on the refugee in terms of the lack of options in his or her host culture, as told through the story of Mariam, a Syrian woman who has taken the decision to move out of central Beirut and onto the narrow sidewalk along the city’s Corniche. She makes her home there and takes the open sea as her lover and source of income, so she starts fishing and she finds in the sea, her salvation and inner peace.   The film also addresses the subject of migration by sea, the... more

BEIRUT: “Daaesh.” Yassin Haj Saleh pauses as if the word, the Arabic acronym for ISIS, were a question in need of an answer. “It’s a fitting name,” he answers himself, “for a monster.” Haj Saleh is sitting in Douma, in the eastern Ghouta, some 10 kilometers from central Damascus. Several weeks later, he and Syrian filmmaker Ziad Homsi have made the journey from Douma to Raqqa. “Daaesh,” Haj Saleh says, three months and several hundred kilometers beyond Raqqa, is “ ... the cancerous growth of our revolution.” These remarks are recorded in “Our Terrible Country,” a documentary co-directed by Homsi and his countryman Mohammed Ali Atassi. The film had its... more

"Street Music" takes us on a journey through the world of music, youth and freedom, from Damascus to the streets of Beirut, its Syrian director Orwa Al Meqdad using this short film to introduce us to lives and characters that shatter the stereotypical images of Syrians in Lebanon that are peddled by the populist media.    Forced to flee their homeland Syria by events following the revolution, three young musicians and a female singer met in Beirut and decided to form their little group of buskers. The home of a friend was the only place they had to practice and the only... more

After its pioneer role in defense of Arab cinema, the festival and Beirut DC are both witnessing a progress in Arab film production and the essence of an Arab cinema that is still stuck in its beginnings, but discovering itself in new lands and possibly witnessing for the first time the support of Arab funds. Beirut DC, whose activities have reached an advanced position, proving its role in the independent Arab cinema field, from workshops to co-producing films, organizing Arab Film Weeks and helping in Arab film promotion, are the days for Beirut's cinephiles. Film categories accepted Feature length documentary Experimental Animation Short movies All Films... more

The Screen Institute Beirut has been established as a Lebanese non-profit Association with a regional scope.The Film Fund offers production grants and possibly also development grants to young professionals who have already acquired enough experience to take a project through development to execution. The Fund will be able to provide cash grants as well as a combination of cash and access to recording and editing equipment. The Film Fund started its activities in the autumn 2009. Contact: Screen Institute Beirut - The Film Fund Monot Street 97, 5th, Nakhle Building, Saifi, Beirut – Lebanon. Tel: +961 1 202 491 – Email: info@screeninstitutebeirut.org http://www.screeninstitutebeirut.org