Civilized People
Synopsis
During the civil war in Lebanon, many Lebanese people fled to Europe abandoning their large apartments, their sumptuous villas and…the servents they had " imported " by the thousand from Sri-Lanka, from the Philippines and from Egypt. In our story, all these people – and many others beside- remain to suffer the mood-swings of a sniper who controls their buildng, dominating its inhabitants and the neighbourhood as a whole, as well as several of the city’s perilous checkpoints. Their stories weave in and out of the tale of the young Muslim militaman and A Christian maid, as well as the traumatic adventures of a rich lady who flies in for tryst with her locever – not to mention, the trials and tibulations of Beirut cats.
Credits
Director (1)
Actors (7)
Production and distribution (4)
- Executive Producer : Euripide Productions
- Co-productions : Leil Production, STUDIOCANAL, Arte France Cinéma, France 2 Cinéma, Ciné Manufacture
- Film exports/foreign sales : France tv distribution
- French distribution : Goutte d'Or Distribution
Full credits (11)
- Executive Producers : Daniel Toscan du Plantier, Frédéric Sichler
- Screenwriter : Randa Chahal Sabbag
- Directors of Photography : Ricardo Jacques, Gale Breidi, Roby Breidi
- Music Composer : Ziad Rahbani
- Editor : Juliette Weifling
- Sound recordists : Nicolas Cantin, Dominique Gaborieau
- Costume designer : Souraya Baghdadi
- Line Producer : Jean-Pierre Saire
- Co-producer : Anne Fleischl
- Press Attachés (film) : Denise Breton, Isabelle Duvoisin
- Production Designer : Sylvian Chauvelot
Media Gallery
Technical details
- Type : Feature film
- Genres : Fiction
- Sub-genre : Drama
- Production language : Arabic, French, English
- Production country : France (100.0%)
- Original French-language productions : Unspecified
- Nationality : Majority French (France)
- Production year : 2000
- French release : 25/04/2000
- Runtime : 1 h 37 min
- Current status : Released
- Visa number : 93.441
- Visa issue date : 28/10/1999
- Approval : Yes
- Production formats : 35mm
- Color type : Color
News & awards
Selections (7)
About
What would I have done if I hadn’t lived through a war? I sometimes fantasize that I’d been born in Sweden and lived ordinary, everyday life. I’m sorry that we always speak of ourselves – of what has happened to us, of our psychology – in terms of “the cause.” You begin to envy filmmakers who take the time to explore their world, who aren’t like me, shattered by a fragmentation bomb. Oh, to be introspective and inward-looking, to be an individual rather than a group! But I don’t think “Civilisées” has resolved all my problems concerning this war – I think I’m still up to my neck in it!
Randa Chahal Sabbag, director (excerpt from press kit)
