Lebanon
Lebanon is in our thoughts this week, after the explosion that took such a toll on its capital, Beirut. These 12 films capture something of the country’s struggle, its beauty, its gallows humor, its fury, its joie de vivre, its endurance.
1982
For 11-year-old Wissam, confessing his love is a lot like the looming invasion of Lebanon: scary, uncertain, and potentially disastrous.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon, United States, Norway • 2019
- Director Oualid Mouaness
- Cast Nadine Labaki, Mohammad Dali, Ghassan Maalouf, Aliya Khalidi, Rodrigue Sleiman
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Apple TV, Amazon Video, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla
Capernaum
(کفرناحوم)
Zain, a hardened 12-year-old boy struggling to survive on the streets of Beirut, sues his parents for his conception.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon, United States, France • 2018
- Director Nadine Labaki
- Cast Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Nadine Labaki, Kawthar Al Haddad, Fadi Kamel Youssef
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Heaven Without People
(غداء العيد)
From long-held resentments to dark secrets, an overdue family reunion erupts into chaos when the matriarch makes a disturbing discovery.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon • 2017
- Director Lucien Bourjeily
- Cast Samira Sarkis, Farah Shaer, Nadim Abou Samra, Laeticia Semaan, Jenny Gebara
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Insult
(L'Insulte)
One day, Tony gets into a heated exchange with a Palestinian refugee, which ends in a lawsuit.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Cyprus, Belgium • 2017
- Director Ziad Doueiri
- Cast Adel Karam, Kamel El Basha, Rita Hayek, Christine Choueiri, Diamand Bou Abboud, Camille Salameh
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Cohen Media Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Kanopy
The Traveller
(Le Voyageur)
A travel agent who has never traveled is sent on a business trip to Paris, only to find himself confronted by temptations he cannot handle.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Lebanon • 2016
- Director Hadi Ghandour
- Cast
- Genre
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Very Big Shot
(Film Kteer Kbeer)
A dark comedy about brothers running a drug-dealing business out of their takeout pizzeria.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon, Qatar • 2015
- Director Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya
- Cast Alain Saadeh, Tarek Yaacoub, Wissam Fares, Fouad Yammine, Alexandra Kahwagi
- Genre Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
Ghadi
A father's quest to convince his town that having special needs does not make his son a "demon."
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon • 2013
- Director Amin Dora
- Cast Georges Khabbaz, Lara Rain, Emmanuel Khairallah, Camille Salameh, Rodrigue Sleiman, Samir Youssef
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Family
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
Scheherazade's Diary
(يوميّات شهرزاد)
Through an unprecedented 10-month theater initiative, female inmates at a Lebanese prison share their personal stories.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon • 2013
- Director Zeina Daccache
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on DocAlliance Films, Apple TV
Grandma, a Thousand Times
(Teta, Alf Marra)
A spirited 83-year old family matriarch searches for purpose after all of her birds leave the nest.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Lebanon • 2011
- Director Mahmoud Kaabour
- Cast Al Hajjeh Fatima
- Genre Documentary, Family
- Available on DocAlliance Films, Kanopy
Where Do We Go Now?
(Et maintenant on va où ?)
The women of a Middle Eastern village must quell rising tensions between their Christian and Muslim men.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Lebanon, Egypt • 2011
- Director Nadine Labaki
- Cast Claude Msawbaa, Leyla Hakim, Nadine Labaki, Yvonne Maalouf, Antoinette Noufaily, Julian Farhat
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
12 Angry Lebanese: The Documentary
A documentary about inmates inside Beirut's Roumieh prison who stage an adaption of Twelve Angry Men.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon • 2009
- Director Zeina Daccache
- Cast Zeina Daccache
- Genre
- Available on DocAlliance Films, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Under the Bombs
(Sous les bombes)
Zeina scours a war torn Lebanon in search of her missing son.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Lebanon, United Kingdom • 2007
- Director Philippe Aractingi
- Cast Nada Abou Farhat, Georges Khabbaz, Rawia Elchab, Bshara Atallah, Zaynab Balhas, Hadi Medhi
- Genre Romance, Drama, History, War
- Available on No streaming locations found.