Perspective Film Series: Beirut the Encounter (1981)

Perspective Film Series:

Beirut the Encounter (1981), dir. Borhane Alaouié

May 12 | 5:30 PM

1981 | Lebanon / Tunisia / Belgium | 101 mins

Beirut, 1977, two years into the Lebanese Civil War.

Zeina (Nadine Acoury) and Haidar (Haitham El Amine) are former university friends who lost touch as Beirut was broken into two halves during the war. When telephone communication is restored between the East and West sides of the city, they attempt to see one another one last time before Zeina moves to the US. The promise of an encounter transforms into poignant confessions to an absent other, with each side of the city trying, in vain, to be heard by the other.

Beirut the Encounter (1981) was restored in 2018 from the original negative by the Royal Film Archive of Belgium – CINEMATEK. The 35mm negative was scanned and digitally restored in 2K. The magnetic soundtrack was also digitized by the Royal Film Archive of Belgium – CINEMATEK.

Selected as part of the Berlinale's official competition in 1982, the film in its restored version screened 40 years later at the 52nd Berlinale Forum.

This screening marks the Canadian premiere of the restored 2K version of the film.

FREE for members. Non-members: $10—your ticket to this screening includes admission to Contemporary Calgary. Our galleries are open from 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the program.

The 2024 edition of Perspective is curated by Muriel N. Kahwagi, Assistant Curator at Contemporary Calgary. The series will feature monthly screenings that amplify voices from the Global South, deconstructing broader moving-image practices through an anti-colonial framework. In particular, this year's Perspective will focus on filmic works from the Caucasus, as well as Southwest Asia and North Africa, a region that continues to grapple with the enduring legacies of colonial violence.