“Forget what I’ve written in this letter. I just wanted to talk to you, to keep you in my head a little longer, because I miss you.”—Hoda Barakat, Voices of the Lost “Beirut is a place where life is suspended,” declares one of the protagonists of Borhane Alaouié’s Beirut: The Encounter (1981), arguably the defining feature by the recently departed Lebanese filmmaker. This comment not only speaks to life in the divided city during the protracted conflict, but also reflects broader themes in Alaouié’s films, particularly those produced during and after the 15 years of war that rocked Lebanon between 1975 and 1990. In a late-career interview, Alaouié echoed that invocation of suspension when he declared that “all of my films take place pretty much between two cities, on a…
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Cinema Scope (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 89 - Winter 2022