Abu Turkey and his wife Rabia are doing their best to care for daughter Sanaa, who suffers from a debilitating skin condition. When Sanaa is called to an early grave, her family soak up their unimaginable grief as they force themselves to struggle on for the sake of each other and their other children.
Abu Ahmad lives in Beirut with his 2 brothers and mother after escaping the Syrian civil war. Despite being only 8 years of age, Abu Ahmad does not go to school and uses his 3 USD a day earnings to keep a roof over his family’s head. Abu Ahmad despairs at his inability to secure an education – the thing he craves most.
Ayman and Ikram Kujeyje have 5 children. Although all were born in Lebanon, they do not have citizenship as their Ayman’s father was Syrian and only a father can pass on citizenship. Ayman is motivated to protect his 13-year-old Sanaa against the perils of their tough environment and has arranged for her to be engaged to a local man.
Aboodi is in his early 30’s and is not long out of prison. He works at a local tattoo parlour, but still struggles to make ends meet and find enough money to pay the rent and care for his wife and son. Can Aboodi stop this return to drug taking before he loses what he loves most?
Cinematographer and director Stephen Gerard Kelly is an Ireland-raised artist with a sensitivity around post-colonial power structures and a background in development and conflict research. Stephen’s debut feature documentary IN THE SHADOW OF BEIRUT is Ireland’s official selection for Best International Feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
If you want to help Abu Ahmad go to school, help Sanaa find a job to help her avoid early childbirth, or help Rabia to access medical help for her family, please donate. Any money donated will reach people in the film and the communities they are from, helping provide life saving interventions. Trusted members of the Sabra and Shatila communities, as well as expert partners — such as Lebanese based NGOs with expertise - will be consulted closely.
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A portrait of modern-day Lebanon as seen through the eyes of four families living in the impoverished Sabra and Shatila neighborhoods of the city, the scene of an infamous massacre in 1982.
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