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An Article by DM (1299 words, 7 min read)
Organized by the Beirut Film Society, the Beirut International Women Film Festival took place from April 27-30th, 2026. This annual event highlighted films about women and/or executed by women, highlighting the prominent role of women in different roles within the faces of society.
A refined taste of this year’s selections took us by surprise as we attended the festival and with every film that was shown we awaited the next screening with anticipation. We were struck by the high level of what was materialized on the screen admiring the multiple talents of actors as well as film makers (and everyone in between) who provided a bouquet of storytelling that struck a core with everyone in the audience.
While every single film deserves nothing less than a rave review, one cannot but shed a light on specific films that moved us beyond the acting, and beyond the complexities of the movie making process.
Mater Benefacta
A quiet and unsettling meditation on care, Mater Benefacta explores the fragile boundary between devotion and control. Centered around a maternal figure whose presence is both protective and suffocating, the film unfolds in a restrained atmosphere. Clinical Atmosphere is reduced to personal care, and family comfort is reduced to an impersonal protection provided by distant and quiet nuns. Gestures replace dialogue, and silence becomes the language through which power circulates.
The almost shocking ending which is not expected by the audience defines an underlying secret society run by materialistic gain which totally bypasses the whole mood one expects from a monastary setting. A touching movie where reality hits hard, and it hits in silence.
Rather than offering a clear narrative resolution, the film lingers in ambiguity, asking whether care can exist without possession—and whether love, when pushed to its extreme, can become something else entirely.
Fajr
Set in the liminal hour before sunrise, Fajr captures a moment suspended between darkness and revelation. The film follows a character navigating emotional or physical uncertainty, where the approaching light carries both hope and confrontation. Through minimal dialogue and atmospheric pacing, it transforms dawn into a metaphor for awakening—one that is not necessarily comforting.
The emotional connection between the main characters brushes upon taboo topics that are easily erased through the idea of true love. Barriers created by society and untold limitations are obvious and carry a heavy weight that halts the heart from acting in real life situations. The film was able to get the message across.
In Out
Built around movement and repetition, In Out reflects the rhythms of confinement and escape. Whether interpreted through physical space or emotional cycles, the film constructs a pattern of entrances and exits that never fully resolve. Its structure suggests a life caught between decisions, where leaving and returning become indistinguishable.
The simplicity of a routine occurance tackled in an out of context manner highlights how the disruptions of life can sometimes influence outcomes and create obstacles when none should truly be there.
Abjad Hawaz
A poetic micro-film inspired by the Arabic alphabet, Abjad Hawaz plays with language as both sound and symbol. Letters dissolve into images, and meaning emerges through fragmentation. It is less a narrative than an exploration—of identity, of linguistic heritage, and of the visual beauty of script as a cultural memory.
Your Landlord to the Lord
Sharp, ironic, and conceptually driven, this film transforms an everyday relationship—that of tenant and landlord—into a broader reflection on authority and accountability. Through subtle humor and superb acting with many improvised moments all in a context of underlying tension, it questions structures of power, suggesting that systems of control often extend far beyond their immediate context.
The comedic, and brilliantly executed, story hints at the brainwashing effect of people in costume, in power, can have on gullible followers. It questions whether assuming that everyone has the same values that we have is the root cause of opening up the mind to being brainwashed. It also contrasts the ultimate authority of religious idols to the reality that they can be corrupt and seek the exact opposite values than those that they preach.
Hats off for the filmmakers and cast, especially that this was all done, from paper to final film product, in 48 hours!
A Fated Seat
Charbel Kassab’s “A Fated Seat” is a story that builds out of a fated random encounter, A Fated Seat revolves around a simple story that gathers meaning over time. The initial seat—whether literal or symbolic—becomes a witness to decisions, future encounters, or missed opportunities.
The subtle facial expressions of the main actors (Maria Douaihy and Issam Al Achkar) carry a weight much heavier than prolonged dialogue. It is almost that the viewer builds the story in their own mind without being guided by the script. With beautiful suggestive moves, and looks, the dialogue expands in our mind as we become an integral part of the story unfolding on the screen.
The film meditates on destiny and coincidence, proposing that certain moments in life feel pre-assigned, even when they are not.
Alya
Delicate and introspective, Alya centers on a fleeting emotional state rather than the well defined plot and matter at hand. The film offers a glimpse into a highly personal experience captured through restricted visuals and minimal narration. A big salute to Yara Melki for addressing this controversial topic and making us reflect at the decisions young women go through in the context of countries that ban certain medical practices rendering the options that remain to be dangerous, if not at times permanently wounding.
The brilliant cinematography highlighted beauty in frameworks that were almost artistic. The red flower in the middle of a green natural background added a philosophical context of beauty budding amids nature, which in itself is beautiful. A brilliant analogy to the situation tackled by the characters in the movie. Even when the characters sought unoffical help, the depicted scenes, the stairs to the venue, and the receptionist at hand all set a mood of impending doom or danger.
The film also highlights the concept of denial and how social norms supercede matters of utmost importance such as health at a minimum and extrapolating that to life itself. A salute to a movie that we would have liked to see longer and perhaps witness the characters evolve and try to change the system bringing resolution to dangerous and deeply wounding loop holes created by outdated laws that indirectly affect us all in more than one negative way.
Its brevity becomes its strength, leaving behind an impression rather than an explanation.
Yalla Parkour
A deeply personal documentary by Areeb Zuaiter, Yalla Parkour follows a young parkour athlete in Gaza whose acrobatic movements across ruined buildings become acts of defiance. Through his story, the filmmaker reconnects with her homeland, weaving together memory, exile, and the longing for freedom. The film contrasts the lightness of movement with the weight of political reality, creating a poetic meditation on survival.
Broken Dawn
Winning Best Film in International Shorts Competition, this film directed by Hae-Oh Park is set in the fragile hours of early morning, where tension and transformation intersect. It explores a moment of disruption—emotional or situational—capturing how a single event can shift the course of a life.
An older lady drifting through the night to cope with social marginalization explores moments of silence and themes of humility, dignity and human nature.
Brain Space
An experimental short animated movie that delves into the inner workings of the mind. Through fragmented visuals and sound design, it explores perception, anxiety, or consciousness, blurring the line between thought and reality. With its praise for emotional clarity and magnificent sound design, it is not surprising that this film won multiple acclaimed awards.
