Under the Bombs

Lebanese director Philippe Aractingi takesus through the bombed remains of a war witha handheld camera and a lot of commitment.The line between fiction and documentary is thinin this docufiction ride through Lebanon in thesummer of 2006. The Israelis have bombed thesouth to get to the Hezbollah army, and into thechaos comes Zeina – a Shiite woman in her 30’s.She is searching for her sister and her six-yearoldson, both of whom are reported missing.Zeina pays Tony, a Christian taxi driver – theonly one who is willing to take her – to drive herto the south. At first, they keep their distance,but during the search they grow closer. Theacting between them is based on improvisation.Sequences filmed from the actual bombingsand massive destruction give the film an air ofauthenticity, as does the fact that this war was recently in the news headlines around the world.Aractingi only takes sides for the victims: theinnocent civilians. But “Under the Bombs” isnot just another film about war and the damageit entails; it is also a film about belonging tosomeone and somewhere. And returning homeagainst the odds.

Premiere Status
Nordic Premiere: Orig. title
Sous les bombes: Cast
Nada Abou Farhat, Georges Khabbaz, Bshara Atallah: Producer
Philipe Aractingi, Hervé Chabalie, François Cohen-Séat, Paul Raphaël: Script
Philippe Aractingi, Michel Léviant: Cinematography
Nidal Abdel Khalek: Music
René Aubry, Lazare Boghossian: Spoken language
Arabic