West Beirut
A Feature film of
Produced by
Production year1998
French release16/12/1988
Runtime1 h 45 min
Synopsis
In April, 1975, civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned along a Moslem-Christian line. Tarek is in high school, making Super 8 movies with his friend, Omar. At first the war is a lark: school has closed, the violence is fascinating, getting from West to East is a game. His mother wants to leave; his father refuses. Tarek spends time with May, a Christian, orphaned and living in his building. By accident, Tarek goes to an infamous brothel in the war-torn Olive Quarter, meeting its legendary madam, Oum Walid. He then takes Omar and May there using her underwear as a white flag for safe passage. Family tensions rise. As he comes of age, the war moves inexorably from adventure to tragedy. Written by
Credits
Director (1)
Actors (7)
Production and distribution (4)
- Executive Producer : 3B Productions
- Foreign production company : Douri Films
- Film exports/foreign sales : Pyramide International
- French distribution : Swift
Full credits (13)
- Executive Producers : Jean Bréhat, Rachid Bouchareb
- Screenwriter : Ziad Doueiri
- Director of Photography : Ricardo Jacques
- Music Composer : Stewart Copeland
- Editor : Dominique Marcombe
- Sound Recordist : Nicolas Cantin
- Costume designer : Pierre Matard
- Foreign Producer : Ziad Doueiri
- Sound Assistant : David Rit
- Continuity supervisor : Delphine Régnier-Cavero
- Production Designer : Hamza Nasrallah
- Sound Mixer : Thierry Sabatier
- Still Photographer : Roger Arpajou
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Technical details
- Type : Feature film
- Genres : Fiction
- Production language : Arabic, French
- Coproducer countries : France, Norway, Lebanon, Belgium
- Original French-language productions : Unspecified
- Production year : 1998
Box-office & releases
News & awards
Selections (7)
Sydney - Film Festival
Australia, 1999
World Cinema
