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Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:48:36 +0000

Ayam VI

Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 15:08:05 +0000

It’s true… this blog has been abandoned for quite some time, but not anymore.

Many thanks for all the attendees of Ayam Beirut Al Cinema’iya – 6th Edition!

Ayam VI was a great success with more than 8,000 spectators attending 47 screenings, and more than 60 guests from around the world.

Keep on checking Twitter / Ayambeirut, http://www.beirutdc.org/, THIS blog and Beirut DC’s Facebook group to check out our latest news and updates.

And do check this blog soon for pictures and detailed highlights of this last successful 6^th Edition of Ayam Beirut Al Cinema’iya!

Day 10 | September 25th

Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 23:41:08 +0000

The countdown for the Closing of this 6th edition of Ayam Beirut Al Cinema’iya has started.

On the program for Saturday September 25th:

Children Screenings, starting 4.30PM

My Simple Story (32’) by Izidore K. Musallam

A donkey decides to return from occupied Palestine to his ancestors’ home in Haifa, Israel. Sami, a nine year-old energetic, smart and confident Palestinian boy decides to help his friend – the donkey – in this unusual journey of return through the occupied West Bank and its checkpoints.

Very Humane (32’) by Osama Fawzi

Mahmoud, a twelve-year old boy, works besides going to school to help his unemployed father and ill grandmother. His growing body prevents him from continuing to work as a money collector in a small bus. However, his honesty, fairness and straight forwardness help him overcome the many obstacles he encounters.

Closing Film, starting 6.30PM (by invitation only)

Carlos (333’) by Olivier Assayas
Ilich Ramirez Sanchez (Carlos) is a key figure in the history of international terrorism of the 70′s and 80′s, from pro-Palestinian activism to the Japanese Red Army. At once a figure of the extreme left and an opportunistic mercenary in the pay of powerful Middle Eastern secret services, he ended up forming his own organization. This film is the story of a revolutionary internationalist, both manipulator and manipulated, as he is dragged by the currents of contemporary history.

*Master Class Cancelled

Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 06:56:23 +0000

Dear friends,
The Master Class with Olivier Assayas (Sat. 25th) has been cancelled.
We appologize for any inconvenience.

Chers amis,
La master class de Olivier Assayas ce Samedi (le 25 Septembre) est annulée.
Veuillez accepter nos excuses les plus sincères.
Amicalement

Day 9 | September 24th

Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 06:42:15 +0000

Day 9 of Ayam Beirut Al Cinema’iya is expected to attract many crowds, so kindly make sure to be at Cinema Metropolis Empire Sofil – Achrafieh early to book your seats!

On the program:

Carte Blanche to BBC Arabic
Jews Of Lebanon (45’) The movie is about memories related by Jews who lived in Lebanon and migrated to various destinations, and by Lebanese who lived in the Jewish neighborhood in Wady Abu Jamil and Sidon. The shooting of the movie took place in Beirut, Sidon, Israel as well as Mexico and Canada. Years after their immigration, what do Jews of Lebanese origins think of their homeland? What do they still remember about it? How do they live with their past? Is there anything left of them in Lebanon? And how are they perceived there?
screening at 6PM, in the presence of the director Nada Abdelsamad

We Were Communists (84’) A reflection on the intersecting destinies of comrades who were once bound by ideologies and remain tightly knit friends, We Were Communists is Maher Abi Samra’s uninhibited examination of the legacy of Lebanon’s civil war and its post-war present. Four men recount their stories from the battlefield, their broken dreams, and their eventual disillusionment in light of the country’s ongoing unsettled crises.
screening at 7.30PM, in the presence of the director Maher Abi Samra

The Long Night (94’) Through one night, one long night, three political prisoners are released from jail. They return to their lives and their families, some of whom chose, voluntarily, to be in exile, while others had to pay a very expensive price for staying: shunning, isolation and marginalization. Waiting for the daylight, another prisoner, who hasn’t been released, lives in a long night, with the hope that this night will one day come to an end.
screening at 10PM, in the presence of the director Hatem Ali

>> Cinema Days of Beirut full program

Day 8 | September 23rd

Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:34:49 +0000

Day 8 of Ayam Beirut Al Cinema’iya will start at 11AM, with the first Master Class with Ghassan Salhab and Tariq Teguia at IESAV-USJ (registration period over!).

Screenings start at 6PM in Metropolis Empire Sofil, Achrafieh with Port of Memory by Kamal Aljaafari, Son of Babylon by Mohamed Al-Daradji and Inland by Tariq Teguia.

Port of Memory In what is left of the city of Jaffa, a man about to lose his house contemplates his fate. Meanwhile, two women remain tied to their homes. One finds comfort feeding her old mother, until her house is taken over by an Israeli film crew. The other immerses herself in dreams of love whilst making wedding decorations. In a nearby café, an old captain sits motionless the whole day, while a man moves restless like a fish in an aquarium. For these Palestinians, this is a way of life, holding onto hope through their own rituals.
screening at 6PM

Son of Babylon Northern Iraq, 2003. Two weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Ahmed, a 12-year-old boy begrudgingly follows in the shadow of his grandmother. Upon hearing news that prisoners of war have been found alive in the South, she is determined to discover the fate of her missing son, Ahmed’s father, who never returned from the Gulf war 1991. From the mountains of north to the sands of Babylon in the south, they hitch rides from strangers and cross paths with fellow pilgrims, on all too similar journeys.
screening at 7PM, in the presence of the director Mohamed Al-Daradji

Inland At the insistence of his friend Lakhdar, topographer Malek accepts a job in a base camp in Western Algeria, decimated by fundamentalists. He begins the first topographical readings, surveys the surrounding area and measures distances. During the night, his sleep is disturbed by powerful explosions. Coming back to the base-camp the following day, Malek discovers a young African woman hiding in a corner of his hut. When Lakhdar arrives to the site, both she and Malek have disappeared.
screening at 9.30PM, in the presence of the director Tariq Teguia

>> Cinema Days of Beirut full program

Day 7 | September 22nd

Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 06:42:24 +0000

On the program for Day 7: In Pieces by Hakim Belabbes, Harragas by Merzak Allouache, Session 2 of the Lebanese Danish Exchange program films, and the premiere of Ghassan Salhab’s The Mountain (work in progress, by invitation only).

In Pieces, a fragmented autobiographical cinematic essay about family, life, death and the rites of passage that binds us.

screening at 6PM

Harragas Mostaganem, 200 km from Algiers on the coast. Hassan, a smuggler, carefully prepares with the utmost secrecy, a group of illegal immigrants to cross to Spain. Ten “burners” will participate in the trip. Harragas is the odyssey of a group that illegally crossed the Mediterranean to southern Spain, the gateway to the coveted European Eldorado.
screening at 7.30PM, in the presence of the director Merzak Allouache

The Lebanese-Danish Exchange – Session 2
Hands (by Eli Souaiby – 26′)
Equal Men (by Anthony El Chidiac – 32′)
Essay from a Room (by Rana Salem – 28′)
screening at 9:45PM

The Mountain 40-year-old Fadi is accompanied to the Beirut International Airport by a friend during the night. He is supposed to remain away for a month. But instead of taking the plane, he rents a car and heads to the mountains where he isolates himself from the rest of the world in a hotel room.
screening at 10PM, in the presence of the director Ghassan Salhab (by invitation only)

>> Cinema Days of Beirut full program

Day 6 | September 21st

Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 06:27:59 +0000

On the program for day 6 of Ayam VI: one film the Arab Cinema Heritage / Yasmine Khlat Retrospective: Aziza by Abdellatif Ben Ammar, the first session of the Lebanese-Danish Exchange program films and an ARTE Evening, where The Hunter by Rafi Pitts and Fix Me by Raed Andoni will be screened.

Aziza Old artisan Béchir moves with his son Ali and his orphan niece Aziza from an old Arab quarter in Tunis to a new housing development on the outskirts of the city. For him, the new area perturbs his routine and he finds himself unable to manage. Thus, Aziza must accompany him to ride into the city on a bus to do his errands alone. But the impact on Aziza is more positive as she copes with the new space to acquire gradually her independence.
screening at 5:45PM (part of Arab Cinema Heritage, part of Yasmine Khlat Retrospective)

The Lebanese-Danish Exchange – Session 1
Notes on Love in Copenhagen (by Rania Rafei – 30’)
Trip to the Barbershop (by Selim Mourad – 22’)
Little Stones (by Tamara Stepanyan – 27’)
screening at 6pm

ARTE Evening

The Hunter Ali has recently been released from prison and is now working as a night watchman in Tehran. This factory job means that he is now able to support his wife Sara and their daughter, Saba. One day, Ali returns home only to discover that Sara and Saba have disappeared. After long hours of waiting at the police station, he is informed that his wife was caught up in a shoot-out with demonstrators and was killed…
screening at 7.30PM

Fix Me Raed Andoni has a tension headache—one that has lasted generations and isn’t going to end soon. That’s because Andoni is a Palestinian living in Ramallah, where the prospects for a stress-free life are elusive. Andoni tries to cure himself through therapy sessions, revealing internal terrains of displacement and alienation to his therapist while his daily encounters with friends and relatives impersonate the reality of thousands of Palestinians, displaced from their history and homeland.
screening at 10PM, in the presence of the director Raed Andoni

>> Cinema Days of Beirut full program

Day 5 | September 20th

Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 07:31:49 +0000

Day 5 of Ayam VI will witness the screening of two documentaries: Once Upon our Time by Hichem Ben Ammar and How Bitter My Sweet by Mohamed Soueid, and one feature film from the Arab Cinema Heritage / Yasmine Khlat Retrospective: Dreams of the City by Mohammad Malas.

Once Upon our Time Once upon a time… This story unfolds like a tale from the Tunisian nights. Gifted violinist Annas is just 11 years old when he wins a place at the elite Yehudi Menuhin Music School in London. The film follows him over the course of two years: from his discovery through his education with acclaimed worldwide violin teachers to his international appearances. His rise to fame will end up affecting his relationship with his family back in Tunisia.
screening at 6PM

How Bitter My Sweet is a tale centered around six characters, four men and two women, from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Sudan living between Beirut and Sidon where they express their joys and sorrows as reflected in a shattered yet lyrical reality. screening at 8PM, in the presence of the director and crew

Dreams of the City Damascus, the fifties. A child observes the transformations that shake both Damascus on a political level and his family that has moved from Quneitra to the house of his tough grandfather. The child would have to face several obstacles: from entering school, to fighting with his grandfather, his mother’s failed marriage, and the echoes of the boiling political movements in the entire country.
screening at 10PM

>> Cinema Days of Beirut full program

Ayam VI: Day 3 + Day 4

Cinema Days of Beirut - أيام بيروت السينمائية — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 07:16:58 +0000