Beirut today: a city destroyed seven times over and each time reconstructed; a city-construction site; a city that is changing. One that reflects Soraya, central body of the film, as well as Leyla, Tarek, Nadim and Haïdar. These fragments of life are caught suspended in the present. We don’t dare look back much less imagine a future. Soraya, with her job as a tour guide, travels the country from one end to the other in the footsteps of ancient civilizations that are sometimes mixed with traces of the recent war. Soraya abandons herself to passing lovers and collects visas. Leyla weaves between intense mysticism and atheism. Nadim is an architect reinventing his city, making his contribution to the work of destruction and reconstruction. Tarek has just returned to Lebanon and wonders why. Haïdar is spectator of the news he announces on the radio as well as of his own life. What sort of lives, what sort of stories can be invented after a catastrophe? —Cannes Film Festival
Ghassan Salhab (Arabic; غسان سلهب, born 4th May 1958) is a Lebanese screenwriter, film director, and producer. Salhab was born in in Dakar, Senegal to Lebanese parents. In Addition to making his own films, Salhab collaborates on various scenarios in Lebanon and in France, and teaches film at ALBA and USJ. He has directed three feature films: Beyrouth Fantome, Terra Incognita and The Last Man. He has also made numerous short films and videos, including: Posthume, Narcisse Perdu, My living body, my dead body, La Rose de Personne, Afrique Fantome, and Apres la Mort. He has published his texts and articles in Various magazines. His fourth feature film, 1958 Autoportrait d’hier, was screened at Cinema Metropolis / Empire Sofil on May 4, 2009. —wikipedia
