Beirut: The last home movie

“BEIRUT: THE LAST HOME MOVIE” chronicles three months in the life of a Lebanese family living in Beirut’s heavily bombed and all-but-deserted neighborhood: Christian Ashrafiya. The Bustros family have chosen to remain in their family home –a 200 year old place reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire. They must endure, fire, snipers, bombings, sieges –the constant threat of death. Yet, they are not political, nor have they ever taken up arms. With their father dead, and their fortune almost gone, the family’s future rests in the hands of the three Bustros sisters. The palace is their last remaining asset. Selling it would allow them to create a life elsewhere. Why, then, do they choose to stay?“BEIRUT: THE LAST HOME MOVIE” captures the visceral, subjective experience of a family living in one of the most chaotic wars in modern history, and looking from the inside out, provides a disarming insight into the psychology of war in the 20th century; its seduction, its benefits, and its price.Winner Seven International Awards, including: Best Documentary of the Year and Best Cinematography of the Year, Sundance Festival, Utah: Grand Prize Best Film, Cinema du Reel, Paris; Golden Gate Award, San Francisco Film Festival. Over 15 International Festivals. Exhibited theatrically and on television in seven countries.“A brilliant coup... a remarkable documentary” London Times, Andrew Hislop. “A rich psychological mystery. Consistently intriguing. Shrewd, subtle, highly accomplished” New York Times.“I was overcome with subtlety of character and the way “Beirut” was conceived. It was so brilliantly done; a filmmaker’s dream”. Boston Globe, Richard Leacock.“A documentary with the complexity of great fiction. An audacious feat... something like genius” Washington Post.“The film goes completely against our clichés... then it develops using an attentive and affectionate regard as free as the finest fiction. Some will be shocked, others will be moved, after witnessing something that one would love to discover more often today –that “Lost time” so dear to Proust”. Le Monde, Louis Marcorelles.

[16 minutes excerpt and debate]