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Film series: Light from a Broken Land
From September 9 to 30, Fridays at our Madrid headquarters we offer a cycle dedicated to new Lebanese cinema curated by Nicole Hamouche. Check the calendar of screenings and buy your tickets online at a discount.
September's film program also focuses on Lebanon with a selection of documentaries and fiction titles that portray the country's current situation through the lens of current filmmakers, whose work is highly recognized in the field of contemporary creation in the Middle East. Some of the films, such as "Costa Brava" by Mounia Akl or "Memory Box" by the acclaimed Joanna Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige have been screened at the latest editions of top-level festivals such as Berlin, Seville or Toronto. The selection of films has been made by Lebanese journalist and writer Nicole Hamouche for Casa Arabe and the cycle is part of the activities programmed by Casa Arabe this year 2022 with Lebanon in the wide angle and accompanies the exhibition "Lights or Shadows of what was and still is" which can be seen in the exhibition halls of the Madrid headquarters until September 25.
About Nicole Hamouche
Nicole Hamouche is a French-Lebanese consultant specialized in art and culture, the creative industries, sustainable development, circular economy and impact projects. She regularly publishes editorial articles in cultural sections such as l'Orient Le Jour, l'Agenda Cultural. She regularly contributes to cultural events related to Middle East and Mediterranean theatre and cinema, debates and conferences with leading intellectuals, playwrights, film directors and representatives of civil society in her country. She has launched many initiatives to present the image of Lebanon from different perspectives, highlighting her skills as a storyteller and writer. Her texts, features and editorials, can be found on her blog www.penseesdebeyrouth.mondoblog.org, and in publications such as: "The Silent Leaders, Lebanese Revolution, October 17, 2019"; "Beyrouth, a coeur ouvert", "Liban: messages pour un pays", "The women of Lebanon", etc.
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Film: "Thawra Soul" and "Conversations with Siro"
September 09, 20227:30 p.m.MADRIDCasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.4 euros: Tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation. You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es up to the day of the screening at 12:00 p.m. Those tickets not sold online will be made available for purchase on the day of the screening at Casa Árabe’s headquarters, as of one hour before each screening (payment in cash or by debit/credit card). Assigned seats with tickets. Mask use is required at all times.Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.On Friday September 9 begins a new cycle at our headquarters in Madrid, which will be dedicated to the new Lebanese cinema. In the first session we will enjoy a short and a feature film. Buy your ticket online now.Thawra Soul de Philippe Aractingi (2019, Lebanon, VOSE, 11 min)Revolution is an energy that acts on the body, awakens sensations and releases creative potential. On October 17, 2019, a popular movement was unleashed in Lebanon, triggering an emotional and spiritual whirlwind that had been latent for decades. This film is an invitation to take a different look at what has been called "the awakening of consciousness".
Conversations with Siro de Dima El-Horr (2021, Lebanon, France. VOSE, 53 min)August 4, 2020, an apocalyptic explosion at the port of Beirut: 200 casualties, 6500 wounded, entire neighborhoods of the city left in ruin. A tragedy, once again. Siro is an Armenian artist born in Lebanon in 1933 to whom the director of the film is linked by a long friendship, made evident through this fragmented film, between Beirut and Paris. Conversations with Siro is about mourning, loneliness, exile but also about joyful moments stolen to History in a dying Lebanon. -
Film: "Costa Brava"
September 16, 20227:30 p.m.MADRIDCasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.4 euros: Tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation. You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es up to the day of the screening at 12:00 p.m. Those tickets not sold online will be made available for purchase on the day of the screening at Casa Árabe’s headquarters, as of one hour before each screening (payment in cash or by debit/credit card). Assigned seats with tickets. Mask use is required at all times.Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.Second screening of the cycle dedicated to the new Lebanese cinema and curated by Nicole Hamouche. On Friday, September 16, we screen a feature film by Mounia Akl. Buy your tickets online now.Costa Brava by Mounia Akl(2021, Líbano, Dinamarca, España, Francia, Noruega, Suecia, Qatar, VOSE, 106 min)The Badri family has escaped Beirut to build their own utopia away from the pollution and conflict of the big city. However, this oasis of resistance to global capitalism is threatened by the invasion of a nearby landfill and the family's internal conflicts. An accurate portrait of a clan and their efforts to maintain an alternative lifestyle, Mounia Akl's debut feature, winner of the NETPAC award at the Toronto Film Festival, Jury Award at Festival de Sevilla, Orizzonti Extra at Venece Festival, Public Award at BFI London Festival. The film is co-written by Clara Roquet, director of Libertad (premiered at the Cannes Critics' Week) and features an all-star cast led by fellow director Nadine Labaki (Caramel) and Saleh Bakri, the Paul Newman of Arab cinema. -
Film: "Not Much Longer Now" and "Beirut the aftermath"
September 23, 20227:30 p.m.MADRIDCasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.4 euros: Tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation. You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es up to the day of the screening at 12:00 p.m. Those tickets not sold online will be made available for purchase on the day of the screening at Casa Árabe’s headquarters, as of one hour before each screening (payment in cash or by debit/credit card). Assigned seats with tickets. Mask use is required at all times.
Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.On Friday, September 23, a new screening of the cycle dedicated to the new Lebanese cinema, with a short film and a feature film, comes to our screen in Madrid. Tickets are already on sale online.Not much longer now by Rusted Radishes (2021, Lebanon, VOSE, 16 min)
Not Much Longer Now, is the product of a months-long collaboration between writers in Beirut and Coventry, UK through the Youthful Cities Programme. In response to the larger question of what youth expect from their city, Beirut’s six writers wrote and directed Not Much Longer Now, an exploration of the history of Lebanon’s trains and a reflection of a collective sense of liminality, loss, uprootedness, and navigating uncertainty.Stories by Nour Annan, J.D. Harlock, Amina Hassan, AJ Naddaff, Yasmina Tabbal, Nur Turkmani. Treatment by Milia Ayache and Nour Annan. Produced by Rima Rantisi in collaboration with Rusted Radishes: Beirut Literary and Art Journal.
Beirut the aftermath by Fadia Ahmed (2020, Líbano, VOSE 44 min)
A month after the August 4th blast, an artist returns to Beirut to help rebuild what she can of her
broken city. Retracing her usual itinerary of 10452 steps through the streets of Beirut, she seeks
to portray the aftermath of the explosion that shook Lebanon to its core. A journey that once
fulfilled the goal of self-discovery now gives both Beirut and the blast’s survivors a voice. Raw
testimonials and powerful scenes recount the day everything collapsed all while showing the
resilience of a people who doesn’t want to give up. Individuals from all walks of life finally open
up after what seemed like a lifetime of silence. The artist’s feet carry her through this journey, acamera in hand, her heart on her sleeve. This story is one for the books, a chapter in history. -
Film: "Red Wall" and "Memory Box"
September 30, 20227:30 p.m.MADRIDCasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.4 euros: Tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation. You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es up to the day of the screening at 12:00 p.m. Those tickets not sold online will be made available for purchase on the day of the screening at Casa Árabe’s headquarters, as of one hour before each screening (payment in cash or by debit/credit card). Assigned seats with tickets. Mask use is required at all times.Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.The cycle we have dedicated to Lebanese cinema at our headquarters in Madrid comes to an end. On Friday September 30 we will screen a short and a feature film. Buy your ticket online now.Red Wall, by Cynthia Sawma (2020, Lebanon, VOSE, 4 min)After surviving the Beirut blast on August 4th, 2020, Khalil and Leila two longtime friends from the Sursock Museum are forced to get separated. Before Leila moves to France, Khalil must break his silence and confront her with what he has been hiding for many years. The film triggers questions of identity, love and heritage in a city where love is lost, and souls are imprisoned.
Memory Box , by Joanna Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (2021, France, Canada, Lebanon, VOSE, 102 min)
When Alex, the daughter and granddaughter of Lebanese emigrants, receives a box containing mysterious items at her home in Canada, it opens the door to an unknown part of her mother's past. Celebrated masters of audiovisual memory, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige deliver their most emotive, accessible, and pop film, a remembrance of the Lebanese civil war through the personal memories of a teenage girl. The filmmakers pump animated life into the intimate chronicles in the form of illustrated diaries, letters, and photo collages of a young girl in the 80s, with a creative style that connects with the most restless expressions of digital communication.The film was nominated for the Golden Bear top prize at the 71st Berlinale and has been release in the Official Section of Seville Festival.