Origin: Lebanon | Fiction | Director: Gabriella Choueifaty | 23 minutes

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2006

In 2006, as Israeli shells relentlessly rain down on Beirut, Sariah (13), her older sister Nayla, and their mother take refuge in the mountains, making sure not to mention the war raging in Lebanon. Sharp tensions between the three women soon resurface, and the rivalry between the two sisters escalates when Nayla’s boyfriend pays her a visit.

The film follows four characters waiting for the July War to end. The centers around a conceptual figure Walid Sadek theorizes as “the witness who knows too much,” reflecting an experience I personally endured on July 12th, when I watched from the balcony of our apartment in Sassine as Israeli planes relentlessly shelled Dahieh, Beirut’s southern suburbs.

It also portrays the reality of living through the war from the seemingly safe and bucolic distance of the Lebanese mountains, caught between the distant sounds of planes and bombs and the omnipresent live images of them falling on the city below.

Produced by Films de Force Majeure.

More information: https://gabriellachoueifaty.com/2006

Festival du film franco-arabe 2025