West Beirut (film)
Encyclopedia
West Beirut is a 1998
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...

 Lebanese
Cinema of Lebanon
Cinema of Lebanon, according to film critic and historian, Roy Armes, was the only other cinema in the Arabic-speaking region, beside Egypt's, that could amount to a national cinema...

 drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 written and directed by Ziad Doueiri.

Plot

In April 1975, civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned along a Muslim-Christian line and is divided into East and West Beirut. 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. Family tensions rise. As he comes of age, the war moves inexorably from adventure to tragedy.

Cast

  • Rami Doueiri as Tarek
  • Mohamad Chamas
    Mohamad Chamas
    Mohamad Chamas is a Lebanese actor. In 1998 he was living in an orphanage, and had no acting experience, when director Ziad Doueiri cast him in a leading role in the critically acclaimed film West Beyrouth. He has been described as having "the explosiveness of James Cagney".-Filmography:Mohamad...

     as Omar
  • Rola Al-Amin as May
  • Carmen Lebbos
    Carmen Lebbos
    Carmen Lebbos is a Lebanese actress who has been working in film, television and the theater since 1981. She has been in several television series including Esma lah and will appear in the leading role this fall in The teacher’s daughter. She also appeared in Ziad Doueiri’s West Beyrouth...

     as Hala, Tarek's mother
  • Joseph Bou Nassar as Riad, Tarek' father
  • Liliane Nemri
    Liliane Nemri
    Liliane Nemri is a Lebanese actress who has played in a number of Lebanese movies, Series, Theatre, Radio. Her mother is Alia Nemri, the actress, who also played in a number of Lebanese movies. Liliane was born into a family of artists....

     as Neighbor
  • Leïla Karam
    Leïla Karam
    Leila Karam was a Lebanese actress. Her major contributions were in the 1970s and 1980s in many Lebanese and Egyptian movies, plays and TV series of Tele Liban.-Career:Karam began her career in broadcast media in 1956, at Near East Radio...

     as Brothel Madam
  • Hassan Farhat (actor) as Roadblock Militiaman
  • Mahmoud Mabsout
    Mahmoud Mabsout
    Mahmoud Mabsout , Also Known as Fehmen was a Lebanese actor.-Biography:Mahmoud was born in 1941 in Tripoli, North Lebanon. He was not studious at school, as he said in an interview, he has failed the first primary grade six time, and when Mahmoud was 12 years old, the principal told his father...

     as Baker
  • Fadi Abou Khalil as Bakery Militiaman

Awards

  • Prix François Chalais at the Directors' fortnight
    Directors' Fortnight
    Directors' Fortnight is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. The section was created in 1969 after the events of May 1968, in which the Cannes festival was canceled in solidarity with striking workers....

     of the Cannes Film Festival
    Cannes Film Festival
    The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

     (1998)
  • FIPRESCI International Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival
    Toronto International Film Festival
    The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

     (1998)
  • Best First Film at the Carthage Film Festival
    Carthage Film Festival
    The Carthage Film Festival is a biannual October film festival hosted by the government of Tunisia. It alternates with the Damascus International Film Festival....

     (1998)
  • Youth Jury Award at the Valladolid International Film Festival (1998)
  • SAA Script Award at the Fribourg International Film Festival
    Fribourg International Film Festival
    The Fribourg International Film Festival is an annual film festival in Fribourg, Switzerland. It is focused on selected cultural films from Asia, Africa and Latin America....

     (1999)

External links

  • Interview with Ziad Doueiri about "West Beiruth" in Salon
    Salon.com
    Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...

    1999-09-09. Retrieved 2010-08-25
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