Beirut Open City (Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

: دخان بلا نار doukhan bila nar) is a 2008 Lebanese

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 film by the Lebanese director Samir Habchi. Beirut Open City is the first film from Lebanon after the war from the Taaif Agreement to the assassination of Al-Hariri and to the evacuation of Syrian military forces. It is about an Egyptian director (Khaled El-Nabawi) who goes to Beirut to shoot a film about repression in the Arab world, on the basis that Beirut has a huge margin for freedom of expression. Still he confronts the Lebanese-style repression.

Synopsis

An American flag flies at the head of a convoy of five identical jeeps heading straight for the city. At the rear, there is a man brandishing a heavy machine gun. A camera captures the scene… Khaled’s camera. And thus begins the story…Khaled is a young filmmaker who lives in Lebanon in the midst of reconstruction after years of war. But peace isn’t at the height of the dreams of its citizens. He takes his camera through Beirut, filming his vision of the city, capturing the people and the reflections of a way of life. Through the film he wants to make, cinema, imagination and reality met.

Festivals

• The Carthage 22nd Film Festival (Official Competition - Feature Films)
• The Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival (World Cinema)
• The Middle East International Film Festival – Abu Dhabi 2008 (Competition - Feature Films)

External links

• Trailer