Under the Bombs: New Lebanese Film on Summer War تحت القصف

Thanks to Michael B. for the heads-up about this remarkable upcoming Lebanese film centred around the Israeli attack last year, Under the Bombs/ Sous Les Bombes.

Franco-Lebanese Director Philippe Aractingi filmed during the actual conflict, commencing shooting only ten days into the 34 day war that claimed over a thousand two hundred Lebanese lives–most of them civilians; that displaced around a million residents — about a quarter of the population; and in which the Israeli regime savagely destroyed so much of Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure. 78 bridges destroyed; 15,000 homes damaged; and 15,000 tonnes of oil spilled on 80km of the Mediterranean coastline. In contrast, Israeli casualties were a sixth of Lebanon’s and mostly combatants.

Remarkably, he hired only two film actors, Nada Abou Farhat and Georges Khabbaz. The rest of the cast — refugees, demonstrators, civilians, NGO officials, soldiers and journalists — all play their own role.

Keep a look-out for it at your local independent cinema. The movie website features a bi-lingual summary of the film script authors, actors, film stills, and more. For now, here is the movie trailer followed by a short snippet with the Director.

Under the bombs Trailer| La bande-annonce du film libanais Sous les bombes du realisateur Philippe Aractingi (1 min 46 s)

لشريط الدعائي ل تحت القصف اخر افلام المخرج اللبناني فيليب عرقتنج

Interview with Philippe Aractingi during the “Venice Days” — the independent film section of the Venice Film Festival in which the film has been officially selected (1 min 56s)

فيليب عرقتنجي يتحدث عن فيلم “تحت القصف” ضمن “ايام البندقية” حيث تم عرضه