Check this interesting short documentary on the lack of public space in Beirut and some of the suggested solutions.
Tag: Beirut
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Beirut the Space in Between the People and Hope
via Our Man in Beirut -
Maura Connelly’s bodyguards harass two women in Hamra

Is the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly now determined on creating a mess every time she goes out on weekends?
First her convoy drove over some ancient ruins in Tyre and damaged a stone wall two weeks ago, and just yesterday, her bodyguards harassed Lebanese actress Yara Abou Haidar and one of her Egyptian friends at Dar Bistro in Hamra where Connelly was having a coffee. You can read all about the incident in this article by Al-Akhbar.
via @AbirGhattas
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I offered you pleasure – Another banned movie in Lebanon
“I offered you pleasure” is a short Lebanese movie by Farah Shaer that follows a shiite woman named Iman, who uses her religious right of performing pleasure marriage (zawaj el mot3a) to gather blessings for her late husband, and eventually creating a lot of controversy in her conservative surroundings.
As per this post by “STOP Cultural Terrorism in Lebanon” on Facebook, the movie seems to have been banned in Lebanon due to the fact that it tackles a sensitive subject after trying to submit it to two local film festivals and getting rejected.
“To all the people living in Beirut who wanted to watch the short film “I Offered You Pleasure” (وهبتك المتعة) of which I was the Director, I tell you this:
Unfortunately, the Lebanese Film Festival circuit seems is as corrupt as our governments, as we’ve presented the film to two local festivals & they both rejected the film.
On the other hand, the World’s Biggest Short Film Festival (Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival) chose it from more than 6150 entries from around the world (& as the only short film to represent Lebanon) …. It toured also to the biggest festival in Asia (Busan International Film Festival) & is now going on a tour between North Africa, Europe, & Latin America … but in Beirut…. well… what can we say… it’s a real shame … seems we will never be able to show it here…”
http://www.clermont-filmfest.com/index.php?&m=134&c=3&id_film=200027897&o=106
Trailer >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=limIyXVZ_Ys
So basically, you can make a movie about anything in Lebanon except politics and religion!
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Harlem Shake – The Lebanese edition
The video was shot at Seeqnce offices in Beirut. If you don’t know what the Harlem Shake meme is about, make sure to check this wikipedia page, as well as the crazy videos that people are uploading to YouTube! -
4G pilot phase in Lebanon
As per minister Sehnaoui, the pilot phase of the 4G service will start by the end of this month including 200 students and 200 specialists as in the case with 3G back in September 2011. And I just hope I’ll take part in this testing phase like last time! Alfa by the way is currently offering an interactive platform at ABC Achrafiyeh where’s they conducting some live experiments to show people how fast can the service be, but note that the devices they’re using are probably the only ones on the network right now.
via LBCI
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The Hangout Gemmayze offering platters for 1 Lebanese Lira
I just stumbled upon this cool offer by The Hangout restaurant on Facebook. They’re challenging people to come on February 12th and 13th with an authentic Lebanese Lira which can buy them a platter of their choice on these two days!
I’m sure many people still have authentic liras in their drawers, and I hope there’s no trick behind The Hangout’s offer. Anyway, for more about The Hangout, you can check out their Facebook page here.
