Film of the Week

Curated by Third Cinema Days

Week three: the emotional core of the programme. We move through three stages of loss: the immediate destruction of the home (Saab); the haunting silence that remains after war (Jashi); and the heartbreaking necessity of exile (Azhari). It is a journey from the ruins of the city to the boat leaving the shore.

Beirut, My City (1983)

Documentary | 30m
Lebanon

In July 1982 the Israeli army laid siege to Beirut. Four years earlier Jocelyne Saab saw her 150-year-old childhood home go up in flames. She asks herself: when did all this begin? Every place becomes a historical site and every name a memory.

Production: Jocelyne Saab
Director: Jocelyne Saab
Commentary: Roger Assaf
DOP: Jocelyne Saab
Assistant DOP: Mirwan Khoury
Editor: Philippe Gosselet
Cast: Hassan Naamani, Jean-Marie Anglès, Dina Haidar, Boutros Rouhana
Music: Rafic Boustani
Mixage: Paul Bertault
Copyrights: Jocelyne Saab Association.

Speechless (2009)

Documentary | 12m

The 2008 Georgia-Russia War resulted in the deaths of several hundred people and expulsion of tens of thousands from South Ossetia. Is there a way to show the tragedy of families that lost their loved ones, thousands of people forced to leave their homes, soldiers doing the fighting, and children who cannot comprehend the situation? Salomé Jashi answers this question in a way that leaves few apathetic, though the horrors of war are never visible on the screen. Her short film is based on an interesting formula of making the audience witness to a tragedy it never sees.

Director & Editor: Salomé Jashi
Cinematography: Tato Kotetishvili
Sound: Nika Paniashvili

The Magic Boat (2019)

Animation | 6m
Lebanon

The Magic Boat is about escapism and hope. The film explores how a mother uses a child’s imagination to navigate harsh realities, transforming pain into wonder whilst they’re about to embark on the most dangerous journey of their lives.

Animator/Director: Naaman Azhari
Writer: Naaman Azhari