In the shadows of the city [Widescreen] = Taif al madina = L'Ombre de la ville

Director and writer Jean Khalil Chamoun through his prior knowledge and insight as a war reporter and producer for “Children of fire”, 1990 and “Children of Shatila”, 1998, provides with even-handedness, sensitivity, warmth and emotion, an in-depth study in this fictional drama of the underlying factors of the Lebanese Civil War. He incorporates the use of archival footage (mostly shot by Chamoun himself) to lend an air of realism in the depiction of the story about 12 year-old Rami (Rami Bayram) and his family who flee from the escalating conflict between Christians and Muslims in the countryside to settle in the safety of Beirut. We follow Rami into adulthood and a rapidly deteriorating Beirut as the city divides into Christian and Muslim sectors and spirals into an inevitable civil war causing turmoil and personal sorrow within Rami’s family and neighbouring families as they struggle with the reality of unemployment, death and the disappearance of loved ones. The eclectic mix of characters in this finely written story are portrayed by a superb cast including Majdi Machmouchi, Christine Choueiri, Ammar Chalak, Sara Mourad, and Ahmad Itani. In Arabic with English subtitles.