Heaven Without People

Q&A filmmaker Lucien Bourjeily via Skype

2017. 91 m. Lucien Bourjeily. Lebanon. Arabic with subtitles. Rated NR.

Series

Josephine, the matriarch of a sprawling family, is thrilled that the whole gang is together for Easter lunch for the first time in two years. They all share a joyful meal, but then tensions bubble up, and a shocking event leads them into chaos. The debut feature by Lebanese theater director Lucien Bourjeily—who directed, produced, wrote, and edited—is rooted in his detailed observations of daily life and family and sociopolitical dynamics in Lebanon. In all his work, he says, he strives to provoke thought. It’s risky, he acknowledges (and his theatrical productions have been banned), “but I strongly believe that doing nothing and standing aside is even more dangerous.”

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Q&A filmmaker Lucien Bourjeily via Skype

Sunday, Sep. 23 2018, 6:00

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Born in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war, Lucien Bourjeily has sought refuge in storytelling from an early age. A writer and director working on stage and in film, Bourjeily is known for his work in immersive and interactive sociopolitical theater. In 2012 CNN chose him as one of the “eight leading cultural lights in Lebanon’s contemporary arts scene.” In 2013 he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship and subsequently completed an MFA in filmmaking at the Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Heaven Without People is his first feature. It won the 2017 Dubai International Film Festival Jury Prize

This film is part of the Contemporary Arab Cinema 2018 series.