Archive of films Beirut the Encounter / Beirut al lika
Lebanon / Tunisia / Belgium
1981, 101 min
Section:
Out of the Past
Year: 2022
Beirut, 1977. The early years of the Lebanese Civil War. A Shī'a man (Haitham El Amine) and a Christian bourgeois woman (Nadine Acoury) attempt to meet one last time before the latter elopes to the U.S. Corruption, poverty, garbage crises, sectarianism… This is Beirut as seen by the late, great master Borhane Alaouié: a wounded, collapsing metropolis no different from the Beirut of today.
Synopsis
Beirut, 1977. A brief cautious break during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). Over a course of a single day, a man and a woman attempt to meet one last time before the latter elopes to the U.S. She’s a Christian bourgeois from the eastern neighborhood of Achrafieh; he’s a Shī'a forced to leave his southern village. Both are lost souls failing to find a place for themselves in an alienating, self-destructive city. Corruption, poverty, garbage crises, sectarianism….This is Beirut as seen by the late, great master Borhane Alaouié: a wounded, collapsing metropolis no different from the Beirut of today. A Golden Bear nominee at Berlin in 1982, the restored version of Alaouié’s achingly personal document cements its reputation as one of the Arab masterpieces of the 1980s – a hidden gem that influenced Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas.
Joseph Fahim
About the director

Borhane Alaouié (1943, Arnoun, Lebanon - 2021, Brussels). Selected filmography: Kafr kasem (1975), Il ne suffit pas que Dieu soit avec les pauvres (1978, doc.), Beirut the Encounter (Beirut al lika, 1981), Lettre d'un temps d'exil (1988, doc.), Khalass (2007).
Contacts
Nadi lekol Nas
, , Beirut
Lebanon
Tel: +961 3 888 763
E-mail: [email protected]
About the film
Color, DCP
Section: | Out of the Past |
---|---|
Director: | Borhane Alaouié |
Screenplay: | Ahmad Beydoun |
Dir. of Photography: | Charles Van Damme, Alexis Grivas |
Sound: | Henri Morelle |
Editor: | Eliane Dubois |
Art Director: | Jean Louis Mainguy |
Producer: | Hassen Daldoul |
Production: | Restoration presented by Nadi Lekol Nas & Cinematek |
Coproduction: | Établissement arabe de production cinématographique, SATPEC, Cinélibre |
Cast: | Haitham El Amine, Nadine Acoury, Renée Deek, Refaat Haidar |
Sales: | Nadi lekol Nas |