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ENCOURAGE LEBANESE FILMMAKERS

The Festival is over but ..né.à Beyrouth continues to promote lebanese filmmakers through a unique compilation of Lebanese short movies...

Encourage Lebanese filmmakers and enjoy their work by purchasing the Lebanese Film Festival DVD at a select store near you.

LFF 2009: The Closing Ceremony - And the winner is...

And the first ever Lebanese Film Festival award winner is… Shirin Abu Shaqra with Un instant mon Glamour. Congratulations Shirin !

The Bank Audi Best Film award was presented to the young film director by Mr. Raymond Audi during a very busy and happy closing ceremony.


We asked Elie Khalifé, member of the Jury together with Hania Mroué and Rima Mismar, why they awarded Shirin’s movie:

Elie Khalifé: “ Because her movie is a jewel; it is different, new, powerful, poetic, musical… But I must admit that the final decision was not easy as there were a lot of good movies programmed, like Talal Khouri’s Mercredi; Katia Jarjoura’s Bi rouh, bi dam; Hady Zaccak’s Darson fil Tarikh; Jad Sarout’s Zeid w Leyla…”

We asked Shirin what it felt like to receive the first award presented at the Lebanese Film Festival :

Shirin Abu Shaqra: “Superb! It is a beautiful sign of encouragement. This was the second screening of the movie in public, and the first time in the Arab world. So it is really rewarding!”

Do you have any future plans?

SAS: “ I'm working on a 2D/3D fantastic tale, entitled Conversations with Changes. The Original Soundtrack will be composed by IRCAM young composer Patricia Alessandrini. This film, which is being produced in the framework of my residency at Fresnoy, Studio National d'Art Contemporain in France, will be released next year.”

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Two other highlights of the evening were the screening of Lara Saba’s documentary Shattered Memories based on Télé Liban restored archives which have a highly historical and emotional value; and the screening of Chadi Zeneddine’s debut feature film Falling from Earth.

This was the first time Falling from Earth was screened in Lebanon, Chadi’s fatherland. And his enthusiasm and excitement could not be more apparent as he introduced the film to a packed audience amongst which his actors and crew members. A director’s close up interview with Chadi will be written in the next post.

LFF 2009 - The Closing Pics














Chadi Zeneddine, film Director (Falling From Earth) & Pierre Sarraf, Director, LFF.














Lara Saba, Film Director (Shattered Dreams)














Talal Khouri (right), Film Director (Mercredi & 9 août)















H.E. Mr. Raymond Audi - Minister of Displaced - Board Member of Bank Audi sal














H.E. Mr. Raymond Audi presenting the Bank Audi Best Film Award to Shirin Abu Shaqra













Shirin Abu Shaqra, winner of the first LLF award with H.E. Mr. Raymond Audi, Jury members (Hania Mroué, Elie Khalifé, Rima Mismar) and Pierre Sarraf, Director LFF.











Winner with H.E. Mr. Raymond Audi, Festival team, Jury members and Bank Audi representatives














Festival atmosphere















Chadi Zeneddine presenting his movie Falling From Earth














Chadi and his film team






Click on images to enlarge.


All pictures by Mokhtar - www.mokhtarhb.com
For any other use, contact: festival@neabeyrouth.org

LFF 2009 - Day 4

Day 4 kicked off with a special students’ showing in Theater 1. The cinema was (needless to say) packed again. Students from ALBA, IESAV and USEK cheered and chanted for their comrades, respectively Jad Eid, Robert Cremona and Joe Saadeh.

The second showing screened a retrospective of short movies from the Oberhausen Festival in presence of the Festival’s director, Lars Gass. “We select films we do not understand,” was Gass’ introductory sentence to the showing. At the end of the session, the Lebanese audience came out of the theater with the impression that Gass’ sentence was right to the point. They too did not understand much, except maybe for the movie Counter which was more accessible. Lars Gass and Akram Zaatari then held a 30min Q&A session with the audience, of which many were university film students.

Mohamed Soueid’s documentary Ma hataftou il ghayriha brought a beautiful end to day 4.
Right after Soueid’s screening:
Festival Spectator: “ What an interesting documentary! It was really worthwhile!”
Festival: “Oh, so the rest of the festival was not…?”
FS: “I didn’t say that! Of course it was worthwhile, but this documentary was superiorly good.”

LFF 2009 - Day 4 pics














Akram Zaatari, Film Director




















Dr. Lars Gass, Director, Oberhausen Short Film Festival














Robert Cremona, Film Director (IESAV) (Le temps des cerises)














Click on images to enlarge.

All pictures by Mokhtar - www.mokhtarhb.com



For press use, contact: leylanahas@neabeyrouth.org or festival@neabeyrouth.org
For any other use, contact: festival@neabeyrouth.org

LFF 2009 - Day 3

If you like documentaries, we hope you didn’t miss day 3 of the Festival. A total of five documentaries on ‘very’ Lebanese issues were screened in both cinemas throughout the evening.


Not Like my Sister by Leyla Assaf-Tengroth ran in Theater 1 before an attentive audience who seemed grasped by the story and touched by the characters that were depicted. Round of applause.

At the same time, the duo Hayda Lubnan/Jnoub were screened in Theater 2. The Lebanese audience immediately identified with the issues in Eliane Raheb’s story, clapping, laughing and nodding during the entire film. The same atmosphere was observed during Hady Zaccak’s documentary, an original study of a sensitive Lebanese problem: its History. What better way to do it than to give the say to highschoolers?

Other screenings included: a documentary by Lokman Slim&Monika Borgmann, animations by Shirin Abu Shaqra and Amandine Brenas, cinematic essays by Chadi Younes and Khaled Ramadan and two shorts by Claude el Khal and Assi Rahbani.

The evening ended in Theater 2 with a controversial movie from 1980, Comme la mer et ses vagues.

LFF 2009 - Day 3 pics













Claude El Khal, Film Director (Ecce Hommos)














Hady Zaccak, Film Director (Darson fil Tarikh) and one of the 'actors' in his documentary




























Leyla Assaf-Tengroth, Film Director (Not like my sister)














Eliane Raheb (right), Film Director (Hayda Lubnan)
Click on images to enlarge.

All pictures by Mokhtar - www.mokhtarhb.com



For press use, contact: leylanahas@neabeyrouth.org or festival@neabeyrouth.org
For any other use, contact: festival@neabeyrouth.org

LFF 2009 - Day 2

Day 2 offered a diverse selection of genres, from shorts to documentaries, from animations to experimentals.

‘Tout le monde pouvait y trouver son bonheur’, as they say in French. Suitable for all tastes…

Day 2 was also a day of novelties for the festival:

- 2 cinemas instead of 1: though we, the Festival organizers, were afraid not to be able to fill up two theaters, we were happily surprised that both were full to the brim almost throughout the whole evening.

-Video clips, a new genre: which attracted a lot of new faces to the Festival – we hope they’ll come back for the rest of the program. Lars Gass, director of The Oberhausen Short Film Festival, our Foreign Guest, presented its selection of German clips. By the way, Oberhausen was the first film festival to screen video clips, as explained by Mr. Gass. These were followed by a couple of our own Lebanese clips by Zeid Hamdan, Youmna Habbouche, Pedros Tamizian… ‘It was a good idea to screen video clips. Some are experimental, others tend to be more like video art or animations… It’s also a great opportunity for Lebanese underground bands to show their videos as they will probably never be broadcast on Lebanese TV, ‘ confessed a regular festival spectator.

During the first showing in Theater 1, the Festival yet again welcomed a battlefield of spectators for the screening of shorts by Sabine Chamaa, Eileen Hofer, Talal Khouri and a cinematic essay by Shirin Abu Shaqra. Some were fortunate enough to find seats; others were spread along the entire staircase, almost one on top of the other or stood in rows at the end of the theater like at a rock concert. All four movies were punctuated by heartfelt applause and cheers and whistles of appreciation.

Seating conditions were a bit better during the second showing as everyone could find a seat though the theater remained full. Luckily, as the film on screen was a long documentary by Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Khiam 2000-2007. ‘Deep’, ‘intense’ were adjectives used by viewers at the end of the show. “It was a long documentary, but so well written that our curiosity was satisfied throughout,” explained a thrilled spectator.

Besides video clips, Theater 2’s first showing offered animations by Joanne Baz, Maryline Farah and documentaries by Corine Shawi and Roy Arida. Put aside a minor ‘chips’ incident (those who were in the theater at the time will understand!), the rest of the screening proceeded seamlessly with a cheerful crowd.

The last showing of the evening was for those who are not afraid of the weird and the new. Experimental or rather cinematic essays by Ziad Antar, Gheith Al Amine, Sirine Fattouh and Carine Doumit brought the evening to a weird but interesting end.

LFF 2009 - The Opening


The 8th Edition of the Lebanese Film Festival kicked off yesterday by welcoming some 600 spectators on a hot (40°C?) and humid (90%?) evening.



Despite some organizational snags due to the usual 3aj2a and some technical glitches (hey, this is Lebanon!), the crowd came out of the theater after a satisfying first look at the festival. When asked what they thought about the opening program, most of them replied that they were happily surprised by the quality of the movies that were shown and that they felt proud that Lebanon offers such artistic talents.

Though the movies presented were all Lebanese, they were all quite different. The audience giggled and laughed throughout Danielle Arbid’smise-en-scène of typical Ashrafieh middle-aged women having conversations around their afternoon Arabic coffee. 

A blanket of silence descended upon the spectators as Katia Jarjoura’s emotional and intense "Bi rouh, bi dam" unfolded. The audience gave Katia a round of warm applause, showing that her first fiction movie has won the hearts of many Lebanese.

Talal Khoury took the spectators on a Hamra-esque half-hour journey into the surreal and the spontaneous.

There is still plenty for your eyes to feast on in the coming days! We'll see you at the Empire Sofil Metropolis Cinema everyday till Sunday - programs start at 6pm.


Please note that the Festival Pass gives you access to all screenings until Sunday – Please don’t lose it and bring it with you to the cinema!

Also, if you want to be sure to have a seat – and not sit on the floor or watch the movie while standing, make sure to arrive on time and to get into the theater early.

LFF 2009 - The Opening Pics



















LFF 2009 kicks off!













Pierre Sarraf, Director LFF being interviewed...














Katia Jarjoura, Filmmaker ("Bi rouh, bi dam")














Talal Khoury, Filmmaker (Mercredi; 9 août)



Nadim Tabet, Artistic Director, being interviewed...




Click on images to enlarge.



All pictures by Mokhtar - www.mokhtarhb.com

For press use, contact: leylanahas@neabeyrouth.org
For any other use, contact: festival@neabeyrouth.org