Film: West Beirut July 4, 2007

You are invited to attend Cinemagic's weekly independent film
screening event. The event will take place on Wednesday, July 4th, at
the Cinemagic Courtyard in Bait Lothan, Salmiya, and will run between
7:30 – 9:30 p.m.

This week we will be screening Ziad Doueiri's "West Beirut". We had
originally planned to screen this film on Wednesday, June 20th, but
could not because of technical difficulties.
In April, 1975, civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned along a
Moslem-Christian line. Tarek is in high school, making Super 8 movies
with his friend, Omar. At first the war is a lark: school has closed,
the violence is fascinating, getting from West to East is a game. His
mother wants to leave; his father refuses. Tarek spends time with
May, a Christian, orphaned and living in his building. By accident,
Tarek goes to an infamous brothel in the war-torn Olive Quarter,
meeting its legendary madam, Oum Walid. He then takes Omar and May
there using her underwear as a white flag for safe passage. Family
tensions rise. As he comes of age, the war moves inexorably from
adventure to tragedy.

For its part, Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of
its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally
competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by
bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the
public's interest in – and appreciation for – the art of filmmaking.

As always, attendance is free of charge and you are encouraged to
invite guests. Seating is limited, so make sure you come a little
early. Snacks and refreshments will be served. Also, we will be
providing mist fans because of the weather.