Boats & Brides (2024)

Waltz with Bashir

An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.

Recovery

Jean-Claude walks his dog in a neighborhood forever stuck in reconstruction. On his trip, he wonders about life, mortality, and 'what if' scenarios while remembering fragments from the direct impact of the second that almost cost him his life on August 4. At the moment of the explosion, the end of the world, bodies, buildings, roads, and cities may shatter. Perhaps the universe itself breaks apart. But the most severe fragmenting remains that of memory. A picture here and a sound there are vaguely reconstituted. Can a future be built from such a memory? Can it rebuild what was lost? Is it time to leave?

The Lady of the Palace

Sayedat Al-Kasr traces the history of the Joumblatt family of Mount Lebanon from the 17th century to the present, focusing on early 20th century leader and politician Nazira Joumblatt. Born in 1889, Nazira ascended the throne of the Moukhtara palace in 1923, following the assassination of her husband Fouad and the resignation of her brother Aly Joumblatt. She presided over the region as Lady of the Palace for twenty-five years while raising her son Kamal, preparing him to take his place in a long line of Jumblatt leaders. Famous for her wisdom and strong personality, Nazira boldly entered the Lebanese political scene at a time when this field was entirely dominated by men. Unwavering, she contributed to maintaining peace and stability in Lebanon for many years, earning the respect of men and women, whether Druze or Maronites.

Kaab l Dayaa

Intimate discussion with the inhabitants of Kfarbaal, a village tucked in the mountains above Byblos. We hear them share their experiences, deceptions and dreams.

Lebanon in a Whirlwind

A few months after the incident of April 13, 1975, during which Palestinian civilians were machine-gunned by Phalangist militiamen, the toll is most tragic: six thousand dead, twenty thousand wounded, incessant kidnappings, a semi-destroyed capital. This film traces the origins of the Lebanese conflict, the perception of a society that goes to war while singing. A unique document on the Lebanese civil war. Beyond the religious war, the painting of a social and political reality that has not changed much, more than four decades later.

Líban, retrat de l'empoderament

Plot unavailable

Kamal Joumblatt, Witness and Martyr

Kamal Jumblatt, the Master of Moukhtara Castle, recounts the major events of his life until his assassination on March 16, 1977. The film takes us on a global journey from Lebanon to India, in the footsteps of Kamal Jumblatt, the founder of the PSP (Progressive Socialist Party), the leader, the rebel, the reformer, the thinker, the poet, the Yogi … Kamal Jumblatt (1917-1977) becomes the last witness... of his own life.

World War C

It's war. War against an invisible enemy that is not as deadly as we are told. The world is changing rapidly. Disproportionate measures are taken worldwide that disrupt society as a whole. A dichotomy in society forced vaccinations and restrictions on freedom. Have we had the worst? Or is there something more disturbing to awaiting us.

Greetings to Kamal Jumblatt

Tribute to the Druze Kamal Jumblatt, Minister of Economy and Agriculture (1946) and founder of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in 1949. He was one of the architects of the departure of President Bechara el-Khoury (1952), before playing a major role in the events of 1958. From 1960 to 1964, Kamal Jumblatt assumed, under the presidency of Fouad Chehab, various ministerial functions . . After the conflict of June 1967, he gradually approached the Palestinian organizations. In 1969 he became Minister of the Interior; in August 1970, he supported the election of Soleiman Frangié as President of the Republic. Following the Lebanese-Palestinian clashes of May 1973, he took sides against the head of state, established himself as the leader of the National Movement in 1975 and engaged in a revolutionary armed struggle against the Lebanese Front. Hostile to Syria's intervention in Lebanon, he broke with it (March 1976). He was assassinated near a Syrian checkpoint in 1977.

Edge of the Valley

A nine-year-old Syrian refugee girl contemplates her increasingly bleak future after being forced to drop out of school in the midst of Lebanon’s unprecedented economic collapse and battle with Covid-19.

Yalla, Baba!

Lebanese director Angie Obeid embarks on a road trip with her father, Mansour, retracing a journey he made 42 years ago. She tries to reach out to the young Mansour, understand the decisions he made when he was her age, and find common ground. The film explores the challenges and opportunities that arise when navigating the boundaries between tradition and modernity, family and individuality, home and the wider world.

We Loved Each Other So Much

Inhabitants of Beirut talk about their love for the singer Fairuz.

The Lebanese Rocket Society

Lebanon's brief flirtation with space travel in the 1960s becomes a poignant metaphor for the Arab world's utopian dreams in this riveting documentary.

The cats, the sea, and everything in between.

In 2022, when the economic crisis in her native country was at its peak, she decided to visit her family there. She turned her short trip into a collage-like diary in which she reflects on her relationship with her homeland, which is in a state of protracted decay. The film is composed of spontaneous snapshots capturing the author's stay, interspersed with inserted captions serving as personal, often poetically formulated comments and observations. As a result, the film does not hide its strongly subjective perspective, but at the same time builds on it to make an important statement that shows the transformation of Lebanese society in everyday details such as the appearance of the city itself or in the intimate sphere of the author's family life.

The Boy Who Wore the Sun

David, a 21-year-old guy who wears a scoliosis plastic corset, hides a shameful circular scar on his stomach. one night, before one month of his skin graft surgery, he’s put in an uncomfortable skinny dipping situation with his friends at the beach. what will he do?

Lovely Day

Alain and Virginie are getting married today, but Alain is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The impending reunion of his divorced parents has plunged him into deep anxiety, only made worse by the shady schemes of his cousin and best man Edouard, who seems determined to get him involved. The groom now has only one ambition: to survive the happiest day of his life.

Perhaps Today...

Oum Karim, a 60-year-old Beiruti lady, is used to preparing Lahm Bi Ajin (Lebanese ham pie) once per week.

Incendies

A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.

Nahla

After the battle of Kfar Chouba in Lebanon in January 1975, Larbi Nasri, a young Algerian journalist, was caught in the whirlwind of events preceding the civil war. Linked to Maha, Hind, Raouf and Michel who surround Nahla, he witnesses the construction of the myth of Nahla, a singer adored by the Arab population. One day Nahla loses her voice on stage. The atmosphere of crisis that reigns around her is spreading like an infection. Larbi, fascinated, loses his footing and gets bogged down.

Book of Suffocations

Torn between faith and desire, a young Arab man at a religious facility must confront his queer identity as he navigates the path to salvation and the allure of forbidden love.

Ransomed

In Beirut 1986, during the Lebanese civil war a Korean diplomat is taken hostage without a trace. Two years pass and long forgotten, a young diplomat Min-jun receives a phone call proving that the hostage is still alive. With the given mission, Min-jun is sent to Beirut to save the hostage with a bag of ransom money.

I Don’t Like My Car Anymore

Two lovers. Both are immigrants. Their relationship is the last thing that they kept from home, the last rope they are attached to. Marc holds that rope dearly, Léa wants to cut it. Her love of Paris has taken over the love of Marc

Full Stop

Wajdi and Maia are spending their last days together before Wajdi travels to a new start away from the Lebanese situation.

Alitisal (The Call)

As a deadly explosion shatters Lebanon three immigrant siblings living abroad confront their mental health struggles amid uncertainty about their parents' fate.

Memory Box

Maia, a single mother, lives in Montreal with her teenage daughter, Alex. On Christmas Eve, they receive an unexpected delivery: notebooks, tapes, and photos Maia, from 13 to 18 years old, sent from Beirut to her best friend who left for Paris to escape the civil war. Maia refuses to open the box or confront its memories, but Alex secretly begins diving into it. Between fantasy and reality, Alex enters the world of her mother’s tumultuous, passionate adolescence during the Lebanese civil war, unlocking mysteries of a hidden past.

Deaf

Beirut, Lebanon. Hassan is assembling wooden boards. His wife is dead. He is building her coffin. Tamara and Rami, the children, in their twenties, are helping him as best they can to fulfill her last wish: to be buried in her childhood village, abandoned for more than 20 years.

In Lights

A music producer faces the relentless pressures of work, relationships, and a high-stakes album over 24 intense hours.

Destroy me, please

A Lebanese migrant in The Netherlands receives a haunting voice message from his former best friend in Beirut.

Isaac Babel. The Fatal Triangle

When the collection of short stories by I.E.Babel "Konarmiya" was published, S.M. Budyonny became one of its first readers. The "horse army" infuriated him. Budyonny called the essays slanderous speculation and threatened to personally hack Babel with a saber. Defending the writer, Gorky wrote: "He showed the fighters of the First Cavalry better, more truthfully than Gogol — Zaporozhtsev." The writer was saved that time. But on May 16, 1939, no one could help Babel anymore. The writer was arrested. He ended up in the most terrible NKVD prison, Sukhanovskaya. Few people managed to get out alive.…

Hollywood Bulldogs: The Rise and Falls of the Great British Stuntman

They created and performed the iconic action sequences of 007, Indiana Jones, Superman, Rambo, Star Wars, Conan, the Alien films and pretty much everything since. They crashed cars, jumped from burning buildings, shot, stabbed, kicked and punched their way into cinema history. This is the first feature documentary to unite the legendary community of stuntmen in telling their story and, as you'll see, there's life in the old dogs yet.

Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony

30 years ago, on June 23rd, 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog was released on the SEGA Genesis, beginning a new era of gaming. Since then, Sonic has been running through countless zones, beating badniks, and saving the world with the help of his friends. This performance is to thank you, all of you, for being there every step of the way, and to remind us all of the amazing journey we've been on. Happy 30th Anniversary, Sonic!

Alice

A documentary about deconstructing what seems complex to create something simple, something meaningful. The documentary introduces Alice, who co-wrote the script with the director. A surfer, skateboarder, artist and transgender woman born in Maceió, in the Northeast of Brazil, Alice builds her identity and finds ways to exist in a society still marked by prejudice and violence.

The Secret Wars of the Big Sport

The authors selected four of the most popular sports in Russia. And their brightest "stars" who survived the "conflicts of the century." Biathlete Alexander Tikhonov, football player Pavel Sadyrin, hockey player Alexander Mogilny, chess player Viktor Korchnoi. They confronted, each at his own time, rivals, outdated rules, and even the political system...

Borrowed Time: Lennon's Last Decade

A visionary new documentary exploring the final decade of John Lennon's life in extraordinary detail. Follow the legend as he evolves beyond The Beatles, creating revolutionary music and standing at the forefront of anti-war protests that would make him one of the most influential pop culture icons of all time.

Exempt

There are public places in Cuba where the gay community meets secretly. The link between the director and these places provokes conflicts that force him to return to the “potajeras”. In this journey, the director's feelings of love and hate for these places are intertwined.

Ali Eats America

17-year-old Ali Allouche, who is battling cancer, binges on food shows during his chemo treatments. Inspired by Anthony Bourdain’s "Parts Unknown," Ali plots a cross-country adventure to visit innovative chefs and immerse himself in America’s rich food culture.

The House of Clemens

Toby Hadoke visits Brian Clemens widow and sons to discusses his life and career.

Apollo 1: Destination Moon

At the height of the space race, three U.S. astronauts are tapped as the first Apollo crew. With dazzling archival footage and exceptional access, this riveting documentary explores the tragic events that followed, shaking NASA to the core.

The Nest

When her mother decides to sell their house, decolonial writer Julietta Singh returns to her childhood home on the Assiniboine River to say goodbye. As Singh listens to the stories embedded in its walls, the house reveals 140 years of overlooked histories—Japanese, Deaf, Métis, Indigenous, and Irish women whose lives, like Singh’s, were shaped by resistance and care. In this genre-defying, cross-community film, the home becomes more than a personal archive, transforming into a site of radical feminist possibility.

Bob Marley & The Wailers: The Capitol Session '73

In 1973 Bob Marley and the Wailers found themselves stranded on the West Coast of the United States after being asked to leave the Sly & The Family Stone tour for outperforming them every night. To make the best of the situation the band made their way to Los Angeles where they performed this recording session at the famed Capitol Studios. Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Joe Higgs lead the Wailers in a seminal performance filmed with four cameras at the Capitol Records Tower on October 24, 1973. Meticulously restored and long believed lost, the previously unseen live session documents the reggae legends at a crucial moment in their career.

Abortion: Beyond the Backstreet

The struggle to pass the 1967 Abortion Act and its continued ramifications to the present day. Featuring never before broadcast interviews with women who had backstreet abortions, those in the medical profession on both sides of the debate, and the politicians and campaigners who were at the forefront of the law on illegal abortion being changed.

Angkor et Les Mystères de L'Empire Khmer

Plot unavailable