Around the Pink House

(Al bayt el zaher)

by Joana Hadjithomas et Khalil Joreige

Lebanon

Diector: Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige

Script: Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige

Cinematographer: Pierre David

Editing: Tina Baz-Le Gal

Sound: Ludovic Hénault

Art Director: Frédéric Bénard

Music: Robert M. Lepage

Cast: Joseph Bou Nassar, Mireille Safa, Maurice Maalouf, Zeina Saab De Melero, Hanane Abboud

Production: Mille et une Productions, Les Ateliers du cinéma Québécois

Distribution:
Mille et Une Productions
44 Bd Magenta
75 010 Paris
France
Tel: 0033 1.40.18.42.49
Fax: 0033 1.47.70.44.70
Mail: [email protected]
www.1001productions.net

Year: 1999

35 mm, Colour, 92 min, 
OV Arabic, French and French Subtitles

In Beirut during the war, two families found refuge in an old palace named the pink house. After the war, the country booms with economic growth and big real-estate projects start. The arrival of Mattar, the new owner of the pink house, changes the daily life of the two families, the Nawaf and Adaimi, who settled there. He informs them of his intention to turn the palace into a commercial centre. The two families must leave within ten days, as by law. Shaken by this sudden news, the inhabitants of the area are soon divided in two clans. On the one hand, the shop keepers are in favour of the economic growth, and on the other hand, the two families and their supporters try to find a place in a system which does not take them into consideration.