War generation: Beirut (D)

An award winning documentary filmed by husband and wife team Jean Chamoun (Lebanese) and Mai Masri (Palestinian) which tells the story of three generations of young people whose lives have been dominated by civil war in a divided Beirut and who have become known as the “war generation”. 13-year-old Nidal does not know what peace means. Born in 1975 when the civil war began, he and many other children play games, war games, as they mimic their elders on the war-torn streets of Beirut. The city of Beirut is divided with the Christians living in East Beirut and the Muslims in West Beirut (made up of a large Palestinian and Shi-ite population) and what may have begun as a political war soon turned into a religious sectarian war. Continual bombings have destroyed much of the housing, there is no work, no schools and food is hard to come by. It would seem that most Lebanese, on both sides, are questioning this civil war. They are tired of the killing, the destruction and living in constant fear and constant danger. Through the frank and honest interviews and personal narratives contained in this documentary, we are given an unbiased, more intimate, perspective on the appalling everyday lives and struggles which took place in Lebanon during the war crisis where more than 150,000 people lost their lives, Christians and Muslims alike. Peace finally came to Beirut in 1990, although Israeli forces occupied southern Lebanon for many years on. A compelling and soul-searching documentary. Narrated by Margaret Magnusson.