BFI London Film Festival: Lebanon Factory

BFI Film Festival: 243 features. 67 countries. 15 cinemas. 12 days. One Festival.

A kaleidoscopic view of Lebanon, the Arab world’s most endlessly fascinating and infuriating country, as seen through the eyes of eight directors and four compelling short films.

Lebanon is a tapestry, a mosaic of religions and spheres of influence, its representatives all attempting to co-habit while competing for control over a country even its own citizens have compared in size and deadliness to a scorpion’s genitals. As such, this portmanteau collection of four short films from eight Lebanese directors is a fitting snapshot of life in a country as defined by its natural beauty and irresistible human spirit as it is its seemingly intrinsic dysfunction.

The four stories range between the tale of a Lebanese man pretending to be a Syrian migrant in order to smuggle his way into Europe and an unfortunate encounter between an octopus and an intrepid swimmer, and pretty much everything in between. Together, they reflect the multiplicity of voices and characters in this boisterous, bustling country. 

(Notes by Ali Jaafar)

Lebanon Factory, dirs Ahmad Ghossein, Lucie La Chimia, Shirin AbuShaqra, Manuel Maria Perrone, Una Gunjak, Rami Kodeih, Mounia Akl and Neto Villalobos, Lebanon-France 2017, 70min

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