Khamsin

Lebanon. The scars of civil war are still fraught and corruption in government parties is growing to a breaking point. In this country that has, since its founding, only ever experienced cycles of war and peace, musicians from different backgrounds gather to create an underground music scene. Over the course of their meetings, they paint their own portrait of Lebanon: its shifting geographical, political, historical and social borders, and its journeys through conflict and instability. Khamsin is a project born from the collaboration between the French experimental rock band Oiseaux-Tempête and musicians from the Beirut experimental scene. More than a mere documentary about a musical encounter, the film is also a reflection on the dynamics of creating within multiple different contexts, from the political to the human, as well as an encounter between collective history and a multitude of personal journeys. It’s a moving exploration of Lebanese youth trying to build a safe place in a hostile environment where power and destruction have had the upper hand for far too long.

Alborz Arzpeyma
Programer, section: The New Alchemists, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma