Under the Bombs, from the victims’ point of view
"This time is harder. Thirty-three days of bombings. Last time there were only 16,” says not a soldier but a Lebanese boy who’s grown up fast because of the war in Under the Bombs [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Lebanese filmmaker Philippe Aractingi. The docudrama will soon be released in Italy by Fandango (on April 30 on 20-30 screens) and in France (May 14 – Art'mell).
Aractingi, who has made above all reportages and documentaries, began shooting this film literally "under the bombs", during the Israel’s bloody offensive against the Hezbollah in Lebanon, begun July 12, 2006. The attack caused thousands of civilian victims and nearly a million Lebanese refugees.
"I shot with the events and I made this film not for propaganda but entirely from the point of view of the victims, who suffered this war decided upon by Israel and Hezbollah", said the director, in Rome to present the film at the fifth edition of the Primavera del cinema francese (“French Film Spring”).
The director had the professional actors (leads Nada Abou Farhat and Georges Khabbaz, both very well know in Lebanon and throughout the Arab world) interact with real victims of the Israeli raids. The resulting docu-fiction of extreme emotional intensity tells a story intertwined with real events of a mother searching for her missing son after a bombing.
"Even though the conflict is behind us, it is never too late to remind people of the realities of war", said Aractingi, who made the co-production with Hervé Chabalier, founder and director of the legendary Capa television agency, François Cohen- Séat and the UK’s Paul Raphael.
(Translated from Italian)
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