Lebanese cinema reflects the intricate essence of our country, relentlessly constructing and deconstructing itself, drawing its strength from its immediate environment, but also its weakness. The existing subject matters are so strong that it is difficult to get away from them and evolve towards a more diversified cinema.

On the other hand, a good story idea isn’t everything. It is how the idea is developed that makes a difference. And that’s exactly what we tried to pinpoint in our selection, the overall cinematic value of the submitted works, their intrinsic power, the creative details that make them stand out.

Most of all, we like to give an outlet to its creative expression. Therefore, it is important to keep its festivals alive. Where else could video works, animations, art and avant-garde films, cinematic essays or experimental documentaries be shown, even in their native land? They are neither screened at cinemas, nor broadcast on TV. The Lebanese Film Festival has hence a primary role in promoting Lebanese cinema by offering its public the possibility to view such works, which in turn injects value and vitality into the local cinema production.
Guided by the perspective of reflecting the reality of our cinematographic scene, our programming offers a large array of genres, from animation to essays to fiction movies, whether directed by young filmmakers or more experienced ones.

A genre that stood out in this year’s selection is the documentary, with their innovative techniques and narrative approach.

Finally, we decided to incorporate video clips as a new genre to our program so as to remain true to our local video creations but mostly to show different techniques of video clip making.
Happy screening!