Un drapeau américain flotte à la tête d'un convoi de cinq Jeeps identiques qui foncent sur la ville. A l'arrière, un homme brandit une lourde mitrailleuse. Une caméra capte la scène… C'est celle de Khaled. Ainsi débute l'histoire… Khaled est un jeune cinéaste qui vit au Liban en pleine reconstruction, après des années de guerre. Mais la paix n'est pas à la hauteur des rêves de ses concitoyens. Il promène sa caméra dans Beyrouth, filme sa vision de la ville, les
reflets d'un mode de vie. A travers le film qu'il veut réaliser, le cinéma, l'imagination et la réalité se confondent.

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.


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. Between his first feature film I'sar (Hurricane, 1992) and his second Beirut: Open City, Habchi had worked for television and waited this long to come back. This film 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. Another plus for the film is that it announces the birth of star, who will shine brightly in the coming years: Cerine Abdel-Nour.

Director:Samir Habchi

Country: Egypt

Couleur/Color - 90'
Réalisation / Direction : Samir Habchi
Scénario / Screenplay : Samir Habchi
Image / Director of Photography : Milad Tauk
Son / Sound : Fady Saad
Musique / Music : Jamal Abu Elhossen
Montage / Editing: Tony Partamian
Interprétation / Cast : Khaled El Nabawi, Cyrine Abd Ennour, Rodney Al Haddad
Production : MISR INTERNATIONAL FILM


2008 | MIEFF | ABU DHABI |
* Section: In Competition - Feature