Hania Mourou, founder and director of Beirut’s beloved Metropolis Cinema (Lebanon’s only arthouse cinema), will host the second South Screen (Ecrin du Sud) film festival on Thursday night, just as Israel steps up airstrikes in Lebanon.
Despite an airstrike Thursday afternoon on the outskirts of Shweifat near Beirut International Airport, Mr. Mourou is keeping his head sharp. This is the first airstrike near the Lebanese capital since May 6.
“An apartment building a few kilometers away from Metropolis was bombed, but we are maintaining everything and are fully booked,” a rep for the fest told Variety in a text message.
The festival, scheduled to run from May 28 to June 6, opens with Lebanese director Dima El Hol’s documentary “And the Fish Fly Over My Head.” The film depicts the current reality of war-torn Lebanon through the lives of three elderly men, Reda, Adel and Qassem, who spend their days on a public beach in Beirut.
South Screen Fest will also include Oliver Lux and feature works by Saeed Lustayi, Lungano Nyoni, Park Chan-wook, Lucrecia Martell and Sherian Davis.
Located in Beirut’s Mar Mikhael neighborhood, directly across from where the tragic port explosion took place on August 4, 2020, Metropolis Cinema opened in its current new venue in December 2024 amid Israel’s continued ceasefire with Hezbollah following months of airstrikes and shelling.
Below is Murrow’s interview with Variety a few hours before the festival started about what it’s like to run a movie theater and festival during wartime.
The Metropolis Cinema remained closed for the duration of the war. How did that happen?
As you know, we opened our cinema 20 years ago on July 11th (2006). The next day, the war started again. It was the war between Israel and Lebanon. Therefore, we are used to operating in highly unstable conditions. We learn very quickly to adapt to situations, no matter what happens. We know that we cannot change the situation. It’s a choice. You just need to wait until the situation improves or find a way to adapt. And basically, we chose the second option.
To be honest, when this war started, it was so violent that we had to close movie theaters for two weeks. But I realized it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, so I started again, which was a huge risk. we were scared. It’s a big responsibility to bring people together and attract theater staff. I also didn’t know what to program. That was the most complicated thing. Because you can’t program something completely out of context, and you can’t program something that’s relevant to war. People are already tired of the news and the general atmosphere of fear, anger and frustration. So it was very difficult to make this decision. But it turned out to be very good. Because (after the blow to Beirut subsided) it restarted with the release of this documentary, Do You Love Me, directed by Nana Daher. The documentary, a Lebanese film made from archival footage (the director describes it as “a love letter to Beirut that spans 70 years of film, television, home video and photography, and explores the Lebanese collective psyche”), premiered in Venice.
How did it go?
Full-house screenings continued for an entire month. So despite the bombing, despite the stressful conditions, the movie theaters were basically packed every day. This means that audiences are also willing to take this risk for a variety of reasons. I think one of them is that you need to detach a little bit. But it’s also a feeling that we need to be together in the same place. And Metropolis is one of the few places in Beirut where people come together, whatever their political persuasion, affiliation, or religion. So this is really a place to be together. And it is sorely needed at a time when there is so much political polarization in this country.
The South Screen Festival opens at the Metropolis Cinema today, as Israel intensifies its airstrikes on Lebanon. Please tell me about the importance of this.
Normally we prefer to invite directors, so keeping the festival in this slot is a big decision and a challenge in itself. For us, festivals are an opportunity to create an encounter between filmmakers and audiences. We’re not interested in red carpets, stars, awards, etc. But that’s where people meet talent. Still, we have such a great program that we decided to stick with it. We believe it is important to be able to say that we not only survived the war, but that we were able to create something meaningful in this difficult situation. This festival has great significance for us in this geographical region. We are part of the Global South. Therefore, it is very important to connect our cinematic experience from Lebanon and the region with what is happening in our neighboring countries in the Global South. And there were some filmmakers who recognized their presence right away, including Dima Al-Khal, who lives in Paris but is in Beirut, and Oliver Lux, who accepted to come from Spain. His response was not to come in spite of the situation, but to come for support and solidarity because of the situation.
What exactly is the situation in Beirut? From what I’ve read, airstrikes on Lebanon seem to be intensifying.
It is an unprecedented situation where large parts of the south (of Lebanon) are being evacuated as we speak, as more and more villages are being threatened. And people are being evicted, which means people are being displaced. they remain on the streets. There is also the constant threat of a Beirut bombing, even if it hasn’t happened in recent days. There is also a risk that infrastructure such as airports could be blown up. We hope it doesn’t happen, but we hear it every day. That means there are drones flying over our heads 24/7, which is a constant threat and a constant source of stress. So even though we don’t actually have bombs falling on our heads in Beirut, that doesn’t mean we feel safe at all. And that doesn’t mean things won’t escalate further. Therefore, there is always a sense of having to perform tasks day by day or even hour by hour. I don’t know what will happen tonight. Yes, this is the general atmosphere.
I believe they were planning an even bigger festival in July to celebrate Metropolis’ 20th anniversary. Has it been postponed?
That event means a lot to us. This is the culmination of 20 years of work: networking, building friendships, and building experiences. So for us, this was an opportunity to celebrate with all the people who have been so supportive over the past 20 years: not only our partner institutions, but also the filmmakers we’ve worked with. Unfortunately, something this big requires months of preparation in advance. And we are in a situation where it is very difficult to predict what will happen on July 11th. So we are planning to do something to commemorate this day and we want to have at least a few guests and maybe do something very symbolic and powerful. However, we are adjusting our programs as the situation evolves.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
