All films are subtitled in English

TIFF Bell Lightbox - 350 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3X5

Day 1

Saturday - Oct 29, 2022 – 8:00pm

BEIRUT HOLD'EM

(By Michel Kammoun)

Beirut Hold’em depicts the life of Ziko, a 40-year old ex-con and petty gambler, and his three boyhood friends, in a seedy, lower-middle class district of Beirut. Released from prison, Ziko wants to restart his life. With his back against the wall, Ziko faces all the challenges in one go. But everyone knows that, once a gambler, always a gambler. But Ziko’s biggest fight turns out to be his inner struggle. Driven by a never-ending determination and a relentless will to survive, he sets out on his journey through contemporary post-war Lebanese society, a place made of an incongruous mixture of violence and tenderness, a country on the edge of war and bankruptcy, where instability makes everyday life feel like a circus trapeze, and sheer existence is yet another form of gambling.

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Day 2

Sunday - Oct 30, 2022 – 1:30pm

THE PROPHET

(By Roger Allers)

Exiled artist and poet Mustafa embarks on a journey home with his housekeeper and her daughter. Together, the trio must evade the authorities who fear that the truth in Mustafa’s words will incite rebellion.

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Day 2

Sunday - Oct 30, 2022 – 3:45pm

UNDER THE CONCRETE

(By Roy Arida)

While the city is crossed by a series of car bombs, a young 30-year-old decides to turn his back on the harmful situation that is hitting his country to try to beat the world record for scuba diving.

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Day 2

Sunday - Oct 30, 2022 – 6:00pm

MEMORY BOX

(By: Joanna Hadjithomas)

On Christmas Eve, a mother and daughter in Montreal receive an unexpected delivery: notebooks, tapes, and photos from 1980s Beirut, Lebanon. While the mother refuses to open the box, her daughter dives into the memories of her mother’s adolescence.

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Day 2

Sunday - Oct 30, 2022 – 9:00pm

FARAH

(By Hassiba Freiha, Kenton Oxley)

When pre-med student, Lina, starts experiencing severe recurring nightmares, her life begins to crumble and she is then sent home to Beirut, Lebanon. She is prescribed the controversial antidepressant ‘Xapa’ – also known in its illegal form as ‘Joy’ – to help her recover.

However, as Lina’s alarming nightmares continue to worsen and a link between them and her birth mother, Farah, becomes clear, she sets out on a quest to uncover a web of family secrets which will lead her to a shattering ultimate truth.

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TIFF Bell Lightbox - 350 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3X5

Day 3

Monday - Oct 31, 2022 – 7:00pm

Daughters of Abdel el Rahman

(By Zaid Abu Hamdan)

In a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Amman, single and middle-aged Zainab lives a dreary existence as a local seamstress and her father’s keeper. After her father accidentally sees her in a wedding dress she is altering for her cousin – Zainab wakes up and finds her father missing – a man who gave reason for her existence.

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