Hot Docs

An old woman sits on a pile of rubble in the heart of Beirut and cries out a chilling litany of anger and despair. Around her, the Lebanese survivors of the 1982 Israeli bombing of the Saint-Michel beach resort pick through the ruins seeking to make habitable shelter from the few houses left standing. Already refugees in their own land, these unarmed civilians fled to the unoccupied resort to escape the fighting. Filmed shortly after the civilian massacres at Sabra and Shatila, the film is a raw portrait of the anguish and resilience of people who suffer the aftermath of a war “fought on the backs of the poor.” Although army blockades keep them from leaving, little aid is delivered and they fear that they too will be massacred. As the survivors attempt to reconstruct their lives, a young boy sings a heartbreaking song of his dream for a beautiful Lebanon. - Lynne Fernie

Media Coverage

Globe and Mail (Capsule Review)