West Beyrouth - Au Sud Du Cinema

Everything is fair in love and war. Falling in love during war too!

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Fonds Sud, a French program that aims at supporting films from the "South", Alliance Francaise of Hyderabad and the Hyderabad Film Club, in collaboration with the French Embassy in India, present a collection of nine films coming from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

These 20 years of the Fonds Sud has been dedicated to the 260 filmmakers supported by this program, who have faced obstacles with their talent and fighting spirit in order to capture their dreams.

Tarek, Omar and May roam the streets of the city, searching for their next adventure. Their parents worry that they're becoming too wild, but the kids don't care. A common situation in any country, at any time - only this is Beirut, Lebanon in 1975, a city split by the first stirrings of war.

School has been shut down and the city they love has been torn into two - there is now a Christian-controlled East Beirut, and a West Beirut, where the three friends live, run by the new Muslim militia. This geographic division symbolizes the tearing of a whole country and its people.

For the kids, the political schism means greater freedom, and they find pleasure in biking, talking, and falling in love. But they cannot ignore the war forever.

Director: Ziad Doueiri
Photography: Ricardo Gale
Music: Nicolas Cantin et Thierry Sabatier
Country: Libya
Year: 1998
Length: 100 minutes

Please contact Prakash Reddy on 93910-20243 for further details.