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Under the Patronage of the Lebanese Minister of Culture Me. Tarek Mitri , Beirut International Documentary Festival invites you to the openinig of its 8th edition with the film Beirut Diaries : Truth, Lies and Videos directed by Mai Masri.

Date : Sunday November 5, 2006 – 8:00 pm
Place : Unesco Palace Theatre.
]]> Cinema http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=93 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 02:44:13 -0600 http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=92 This new report from Landmine Action provides a detailed analysis of the impact of cluster munitions in Lebanon. It shows not only the ongoing casualties caused by these weapons but also the severe impact of cluster munition contamination on agriculture, water supply and reconstruction.

The report highlights the failings of the international community to address the problems caused by these weapons and calls for new rules of international humanitarian law to prohibit the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions.

Download the Full Report]]> Crisis http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=92 Thu, 19 Oct 2006 03:43:37 -0500 http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=91 Experts* sent to Lebanon by UNESCO to assess the state of the country's cultural heritage sites have called for urgent measures to clean up the oil spill from the World Heritage edifices along the Byblos shore line. However, they found that major components of Lebanon's cultural heritage had been spared by the recent conflict. The experts' findings were presented at a press conference at UNESCO this morning by the Organization's Assistant Director-General for Culture, Françoise Rivière, and Mounir Bouchenaki, Director-General of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), who led the mission, 10 - 15 September.
Despite the limited extent of war damage to cultural heritage, the mission found several areas that require attention to safeguard and revitalize that heritage.

The most serious damage resulting from the conflict concerns the World Heritage site of Byblos, which was affected by the oil spill from the fuel tanks of the Jiyeh power plant, an ecological problem for a large area of the eastern Mediterranean, according to Mr Bouchenaki. He drew attention to the urgent need to clean, manually, the stones at the base of the port's two Medieval towers and other sea-shore archaeological remains. He estimated that it would take 25 people eight to ten weeks to conduct the operation and said that they would undergo a one-week training period before starting. Mr Bouchenaki estimated the cost of the operation at some US$ 100,000.

The main features of the World Heritage site of Tyre, the Roman hippodrome and triumphal arch, did not sustain any damage, said Mr Bouchenaki. But frescoes in a Roman tomb on the site had come partly unstuck, probably because of vibrations caused by bombs, and required emergency restoration.

The site of Baalbek, inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, was not damaged by bombs except for the fall of one block of stone, noted Mr Bouchenaki. Fissures on the lintels of the temples of Jupiter and Bacchus at the site had probably widened because of vibrations from bombings nearby and warranted close monitoring, he said. The mission also noted that the souk and some old houses in the Old City of Baalbek, not part of the property inscribed on the World Heritage List, were damaged by bombs.

South of Baalbek, the World Heritage site of Anjar with its Umayyad vestiges was found to have been undamaged but is in a poor state of conservation.

The mission also visited the Old City of Saida and the nearby Temple of Echmoun, which Lebanon is preparing to propose for inscription on the List by the World Heritage Committee, and found them to have been spared by the war.

Mr Bouchenaki outlined more longer-term measures to preserve Lebanon's cultural heritage: Setting up photogrammetric equipment to monitor fissures in several sites; helping Lebanon's Department of Antiquities develop its human resources to improve the safeguarding and management of cultural heritage sites; drawing up of a risk map identifying cultural properties with serious structural weaknesses; and undertaking measures to consolidate the most seriously threatened structures.

UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Culture stressed the importance of culture as a cement of social cohesion in Lebanon and spoke of the importance of cultural heritage as a symbol of the country's diversity and tolerance.

Ms Rivière spoke of UNESCO's efforts, even during the fighting, to draw the belligerents' attention to their obligation to spare cultural heritage protected by The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, of which both Lebanon and Israel are States Parties.

Ms Rivière also announced that some US $70,000 could be made available by the World Heritage Fund for emergency measures for Lebanon's cultural heritage. This would serve as seed money, she said, and more funds would be raised to help the country revitalize its cultural sector.

UNESCO is also preparing to send another, multidisciplinary mission to Lebanon to assess ways in which the Organization may contribute to reconstruction in culture, education, science and communication, in the framework of the United Nations' plan for Lebanon.

]]> Crisis http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=91 Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:07:42 -0500 http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=90 Lebanon, and more specifically Beirut, still conjure two very dichotomous and cliché images in the West: either the lamented former glory of the pearl of the Middle East, or the atrocities of a 15-year protracted civil war. With the media saturation of the recent war between Israel and Hizbullah still fresh, and the shaky promise of a brittle ceasefire, Lebanon once again risks to fall prey to stereotyping. In defiance of the war and in solidarity with the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, De Balie organises an evening of films, documentaries and videos by Lebanese makers, in collaboration with the Lebanese production house and film festival Né à Beyrouth.The selection of films are testimony to the resistance of Lebanese artists to a historical and cultural amnesia, and show that being rooted in contemporary Lebanon means is as much a commemoration of an untold past, as it is a reflection on and of the present.


With thanks to: Pierre Sarraf (Né à Beyrouth), Joanna Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Celluloid Dreams, Akram Zaatari, and other participating artists.

More info:

http://www.neabeyrouth.org/

http://www.balie.nl



BLOCK 1: 18.00 h

"Ce sera beau, from Beirut with love" Wael Nouredinne, 30min, 2005 (16mm)

From Beirut – with Love:. A cinematic postcard greeting, so bitter and cynical, it can only come from a city being at war with itself.



"In this house", Akram Zaatari, 30 min, 2004 (video)

At the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1991, Ali, a member of the Lebanese resistance, wrote a letter to the owners of the house his group had occupied for six years. In November 2002, Akram Zaatari took his video camera and headed to this family’s village in Ain al-Mir to dig up Ali’s letter.



Improvised shorts – reflections on the recent war by Joanna Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Akram Zaatari, Michel Kammoun, Hani Tamba, Ziad Antar.




Block 2: 20.00 h

"Meshwar" 26 min, Ziad Antar & Marc Casal Liotier 2005 (DV cam)

The assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Harari in February 2005, and the instable security situation in Lebanon, has brought back memories of the civil war.


“All is well on the border", 43 min, Akram Zaatari (video)

Issues of representation within the occupied zone of South Lebanon are explored in this documentary. The film’s three staged interviews with Lebanese prisoners in Israel illustrate aspects of life under occupation with convincing poignancy. Zaatari uses the interview format as a tribute to French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard’s Here And Elsewhere, which probed images of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict in South Lebanon 20 years earlier.



Block 3: 22.00 h

"My friend Imad and the Taxi", 19 min, Olga Nakkas/Hassan Zbib, Lebanon (1985 and 2005)

In 1985, Hassan Zbib and Olga Nakkas separately started to develop film scenarios based on simple narratives. Their work took Beirut as a stage where lonely characters drifted: a taxi driver in his car, a man walking around and talking to a Rambo poster. These films were never presented as finalized works until a Beirut-based festival, Né à Beyrouth, spotted them and asked the filmmakers to present their films with live electronic music.


"A Perfect Day", 88min, Khalil Joreige en Joanna Hadjithomas, 2005

Stuck in a traffic jam, Malek catches a glance of Zeina, the woman he loves. His mother Claudia has still not accepted his father’s disappearance after 15 years. She stays at home should her husband return, Malek drives around the city alone in his car. Each of them living with a void of lost love.


9 September | 18.00 h, 20.00 h, 22.00 h
Cinema Libanon: Benefietavond

Entrance: euro 10,- | combination ticket euro 25,-

Location: De Balie, Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, Amsterdam

Language: English

With introductions by Pierre Sarraf (director Né à Beyrouth)]]> Cinema http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=90 Sun, 03 Sep 2006 11:29:31 -0500 http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=89 In her Gallery's website Lena Kelekian identifies her work and talent :
" I use the tradional Byzantine technique in painting my icons, in egg tempera using natural pigments that I extract from minerals and plants. With a golden or silver background on gessoed wood, I embellish them with precious and semi precious stones and pearls."
As a geologist-iconographer my research has led me to the rediscovery of 89 natural pigments. As for the icon-crosses, I design and paint them emphasizing on the traditional symbols of different Christian sects, and I ornate them with precious stones After having seen more than a thousand churches ,I also enjoy painting murals and frescoes on the walls and use the same technique for portable murals. Combining arts and sciences in paying homage to the Creator, I also restore old and damaged icons to bring back their glamour and conserve them to keep the tradition for ages to come."
Website : http://www.kelekianartgallery.com]]> Painting http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=89 Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:27:58 -0500 http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=88 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has joined a burgeoning international community - by starting his own weblog.
The launch of www.ahmadinejad.ir was reported on state TV, which urged users to send in messages to the president.
Mr Ahmadinejad's first posting, entitled autobiography, tells of his childhood and Iran's Islamic revolution,
The blog includes a poll asking if users think the US and Israel are trying to trigger a new world war.
There is a postform for users to send in questions for the president, and a picture gallery containing a series of images of the blogger himself.
Blog : http:// www.ahmadinejad.ir
]]> General http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=88 Fri, 18 Aug 2006 14:13:27 -0500 http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=87 The Official banner for the demonstration which took place at Midan Tahrir- Cairo in support to Lebanon and Palestine....ETFOU !!!

and during demonstration

]]> Crisis http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=87 Sun, 13 Aug 2006 17:40:50 -0500 http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=85 As stated in their website, TheUNcampaign aim is to give the Free in the world visual weapons against UN shameful inexistence. The website provides high-resolution artwork, the ability to read and comment on their blog.

www.theuncampaign.org
]]> Crisis http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=85 Sun, 13 Aug 2006 10:53:01 -0500 http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=84

Geroge Galloway Our RESPECT to you and your party.

Click here to WATCH

Geroge Galloway's Party ( RESPECT- The Unity Coalition ) website : http://www.respectcoalition.org/]]> Crisis http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=84 Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:16:38 -0500 http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=83
Demonstrations against the continuous inhumane Israeli aggression on Lebanon are raging in different cities of the world. Beirutlemons.com received the following pictures of a demonstration that took place in Berlin, Germany last week. Several persons took their shoes off and laid down covered with the Lebanese flag, copying the scenes of deaths in Lebanon that are still going on since July 12th. The Israeli racist attack against humanity in Lebanon has so far killed more than 1,100 civilians and injured several thousands, not less than 6,000 homes have been destroyed, and around 1,000,000 have been displaced from South Lebanon and Southern Beirut suburbs into the north and Beirut, which is equivalent to nearly 1/3 of the total Lebanese population. Lebanon’s infrastructure including roads, bridges, telephone networks, electricity, water pumps, airports and seaports have been either fully destroyed or disabled.
































We call upon the free souls in the world, in the name of humanity and justice, in solidarity with Lebanon and its people, call for an immediate ceasefire, help Lebanon..]]> Crisis http://beirutlemons.emedialodge.comindex.php?itemid=83 Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:47:17 -0500