A selection of films from Lebanon exploring identity, memory, and everyday life, reflecting the country’s culture, history, and resilience.

While one evening he is guarding his aunt's house in an isolated village in Lebanon, Anis will have to pretend to be a thief to save his life during a burglary. Director Biography -&nbsp;Dwan Kaoukji <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/3ec24738e63cee5703a84ec5c50790b0.png" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;" width="208">Dwan Kaoukji is Lebanese, and was born and raised in Kuwait. She is a social scientist by profession and recently began exploring her career as a filmmaker. Canary in a Coal Mine is her first short fictional film. Prior to this film, Dwan directed a short documentary for BBC World Service called"The Soul of the Rose" that explores the lives of natural perfumers in Northern India. The documentary was broadcast on the BBC World Service and on the BBC World News website in 2016.

Canary in a Coal Mine (age 16+)

While one evening he is guarding his aunt's house in an isolated village in Lebanon, Anis will have to pretend to be a thief to save his life during a burglary.

Beirut, Lebanon. On the waterfront’s construction site, security agent Raed must prevent passing-by walkers from accessing the seaside. Yet as the horizon becomes each day more stifled by the construction, Raed makes peculiar encounters—mere dreams, or symbols of his desires? Director Biography -&nbsp;Wissam Charaf <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/b02e06fc958898613c49d8c798a52a75.jpg" width="261" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Born in Beirut in 1973, Wissam Charaf has directed 7 short films including " Unforgettable memory of a friend", awarded at the Clermont-Ferrand festival 2019. His 1st fiction feature film, "Heaven sent" was selected at ACID during the Cannes Film Festival 2016. His 2nd fiction feature, "Dirty Difficult Dangerous" opens the Giornate degli Autori section at the 2022 Venice Film Festival where it won the Cineuropa Award, before being awarded at the 2023 Palm Springs Film Festival.

If the Sun Drowned Into an Ocean of Clouds

Beirut, Lebanon. On the waterfront’s construction site, security agent Raed must prevent passing-by walkers from accessing the seaside. Yet as the horizon becomes each day more stifled by the construction, Raed makes peculiar encounters—mere dreams, or symbols of his desires?

Like a Spiral is a dialogue between Beirut and five women, migrant domestic workers, under the Kafala system. Expressing their belonging to a society in collapse, the women's voices rise through the film's grainy images to denounce their stolen freedom with an inalienable thirst for existence. Their memories dance in the rhythm of oppression. Caught within life's spiral, they lift themselves up to not sink into oblivion. Director Biography -&nbsp;Lamia Chraibi<img src="https://f3m.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lamia_Chraibi_Credit-Hamza-Abdelouafi-398x600.jpg" style="display: inline; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px; float: left;" width="228">Lamia Chraibi is a French-Moroccan filmmaker based in Montreal. She is particularly interested in the themes of social justice, identity, family and territory. She also deals with subjects related to body language and social art. The human being is at the heart of her approach. Her studies in social science (Sorbonne, Paris) and in documentary (INIS, Montreal) have shaped her sensitive and committed vision of the world. Her art is nourished by her identity questions, her migratory journey and her travels. Lamia’s cinema is based on time and the trust established with the protagonists. With a poetic approach, her camera gives a voice to the forgotten from diverse backgrounds.

Like a Spiral

Like a Spiral is a dialogue between Beirut and five women, migrant domestic workers, under the Kafala system.

Every night, Laura, a Lebanese girl who emigrated to Northern Europe, reappears in the family home she left behind in Beirut. As her voice echoes through the dark and dusty living room, fragmented souvenirs start to form and paint the picture of the life that was once lived between these walls. <img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTPdHa97bA4nkLPAu8zRAUd0bz2RhY-1FLmxLWB1P4rp8F5I1IObo-bLC3ZkrnZiUMvkuSHVCt5u63-S4w5cbm72A-dFrTcmBn7tJ8bbtY&amp;s=10" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Director Biography -&nbsp;Pierre MouzannarPierre Mouzannar is a Lebanese filmmaker based in Beirut. He studied film in London, directing An Arabian Night which premiered at Clermont-Ferrand in 2020, receiving a special mention and achieving the highest audience rating at the festival. His second short film Those Who Never Left has won multiple prizes in France, Jordan, Algeria and Lebanon. He served as President of the Jury for the La Cabina section at the Mostra of Valencia in 2025. Pierre often collaborates as editor on Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige’s art films such as Bab el Tebbeneh and Sarcophagus of Drunken Loves which was selected in Berlin International Film Festival. He also worked as an assistant editor on Nadine Labaki’s Oscar-nominated Capernaum and collaborated with Oscar-winning composer Gabriel Yared. Director StatementThis film is born out of an observation that haunted me in the wake of Lebanon’s 2021 mass emigration. I saw a paradox unfold: those who fled the country under immense pressure, whether economic collapse, political dysfunction, or sheer survival, remained mentally trapped in the very trauma they were escaping. Meanwhile, those who stayed, out of necessity or resilience, had no choice but to keep moving forward. In a cruel irony, it was the act of leaving that froze one’s perception of Lebanon at the moment of departure, trapping the emigrant in a state of emotional exile. I was struck by the contrast in how Lebanon was perceived. Emigrants, caught between two worlds, carried unresolved resentment, unable to forgive the country, yet unable to belong elsewhere. Meanwhile, those who stayed, despite facing the same hardships, were more adaptable, forced to evolve with the changing tides. This dichotomy is not new. The Levant has been shaped by emigration for centuries. Each wave of upheaval, be it war, economic collapse, or foreign intervention, has chipped away at its social fabric. The flight of the educated middle class, the disappearance of confessional minorities, and the slow erosion of Lebanon’s cosmopolitan spirit have fundamentally altered the landscape of the region. The Middle East, once a vibrant mosaic of civilizations, is now marked by the echoes of those who have vanished. I grew up in Beirut, surrounded by the eerie presence of abandoned homes, silent witnesses to generations of forced departures. These homes, frozen in time, contain the traces of lives suddenly interrupted. They remain filled with ghosts, with memories that refuse to fade. Yet, there is an inevitable realization for those who leave: after losing your home, the only home you have is within yourself. Displacement forces an intimacy with one’s own solitude. It strips away the external markers of identity and leaves you face to face with your own essence. This is why the film is deeply introspective in tone. It is less about a country and more about the interior landscape of those who have been uprooted. It explores the quiet moments of reckoning, the unspoken dialogues with memory, and the search for an internal refuge when the physical one has been lost.

Those Who Never Left

Two years after the Beirut blast, a girl continually revisits the last night she spent with her family in their home.

A Lebanese couple spends a sleepless night, fearing an Israeli airstrike could shatter their glass walls. With children nearby, they face the impossible choice to stay or flee their life. Director's Biography <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/1427fb90d5599542565f58626ebd9818.jpg" width="324" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Samir Syriani (b. 1989) is a Lebanese film director and screenwriter known for his striking visuals and insightful storytelling. He gained recognition with his award-winning student film To Baalbek, screened at over 15 festivals. Samir has earned multiple Best Music Video awards and created TV campaigns for global brands. In 2019, his Master's short film Contact premiered at the 49th Tampere Film Festival, winning multiple awards. In 2024, he completed What If They Bomb Here Tonight?, which premiered at the 47th Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. Beyond filmmaking, Samir is a university professor, mentor, and devoted father of two daughters.

What If They Bomb Here Tonight

A Lebanese couple spends a sleepless night, fearing an Israeli airstrike could shatter their glass walls. With children nearby, they face the impossible choice to stay or flee their life.

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From May 14th to May 21st, our global screening program will feature a curated selection of 20+ short films by Arab filmmakers across the diaspora, paired with ready-to-use study guides that make classroom integration simple, engaging, and meaningful.

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