Organized by the Beirut Film Society, the festival of women film-makers took place in the Lebanese capital from March 10th to 15th. During the opening night at the Casino du Liban, a tribute was paid to Lebanese actress Waffa Tarabay, a talented artist with a distinguished career in Lebanese films, television and theatre.
During the same evening the Beirut Film Society announced the start of the Beirut International Children and Family Film Festival. This event was held on the sidelines of the International Women Film Festival, with morning sessions.
The founder and director of the festival, Sam Lahoud, spoke about his association’s activities: “One of the Beirut Film Society’s missions is to support a responsible film industry which engages in dialogue on humanitarian, national and environmental issues, as well as issues related to homo sapiens as a whole … and since the rights of women and children are at the heart of human rights, we must do our best to encourage the films and filmmakers shown in film festivals.”
Cinema-goers could watch 80 films from 35 countries in the presence of directors and international guests. At the end of the week of screenings, the different juries announced the award winners at a special ceremony. The Best Documentary Award went to Dutch director Aliona Van Der Host for her film Love is Potatoes, while Leen Alfaisal (United Arab Emirates) received the jury’s special mention for The Borrowed Dress.
Among the short films, Federico Di Corato’s (S) Words was awarded Best Film. Two special mentions were also awarded: the first for Cris Gris’ Mexican San Miguel, and the second for the Estonian Three August Days by Madli Laane.
Finally, the jury gave the Best Film Award to the Cypriot feature Pause by Tonia Mishiali, and a special mention to Benzine by Tunisian director Sara Abidi.
Sources: https://en.annahar.com, https://www.the961.com
