Philippe Aractingi (Sous les bombes, France/Lebanon/England/Belgium 2007)

In July 2006, Southern Lebanon was caught up in a war between Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. Lebanese director Aractingi took his camera outside and started shooting ten days into the 34-day war, capturing the devastation wreaked on the civilian population. As the fighting continued, Aractingi developed a fictional story about a beautiful and wealthy mother named Zeina and a hapless cab driver named Tony on a road trip to find Zeina’s missing son and sister. Along the way they encounter stunned survivors who tell stories of their loss in improvised scenes full of emotional authenticity. The obviously smitten Tony overcomes his hustler impulses, meanwhile, and develops an unlikely alliance with his passenger. Together they come to share a basic human intimacy that transcends class, religion and politics. Zeina frantically grabs at the strands of information as they drive through hauntingly beautiful landscapes carved up by the bombs and shells that have destroyed roads, bridges and villages. By telling of the personal trauma of war, filmmaker Aractingi effectively puts polemics aside. With nuanced and complex performances, this hybrid of fiction and documentary is required viewing for those seeking an understanding of these troubled lands. —Janis Plotkin

Written by Philippe Aractingi, Michel Léviant. Photographed by Nidal Abdel Khalek. With Nada About Farhat, Georges Khabbaz, Rawya Elchab, Bshara Atallah. (98 min. In Arabic with English subtitles. Film Movement)

October 17–23, Sundance Kabuki Cinemas