Beirut Terminus
بيروت المحطة الاخيرة
Feature Documentary
Lebanon - UAE
Year
2019
Synopsis :
"Beirut Terminus" explores the notions of borders, identity and belongingness, within a perpetually troubled region of the world. Using Lebanon's discarded railway and what's left of its deserted infrastructure as its core scenery, the film interweaves personal and historical facts while taking a contemplative and geographical journey from the peripheral train stations of the country, towards the central station of its capital Beirut, in an attempt to analyze, question and understand its past, present and uncertain future.
PRESS & CRITICS REVIEWS
Kaleem Aftab , The National
The images Kamal documents of abandoned locomotives
and animals grazing where there once stood stations are beautiful – each frame could be hung in a gallery –
and are the backbone of this artistic movie.
هوفيك حبشيان، النهار
بعيداً من أنماط وثائقية تقليدية، يقدّم "بيروت المحطة الأخيرة" رؤية مختلفة، بصرية وتأملية وشاعرية في المقام الأول، عن السكك الحديد والقطارات الشاهدة على زمن غابر
روجيه عوطة، المدن
دمار إيلي كمال
من الصعب الا يحمل فيلم ايلي كمال "بيروت، المحطة الأخيرة" المتفرج إلى تذكّر تلك العبارة الآثرة لصامويل بيكيت: "الدمار، الدمار، هذا هو الملجأ".
Giampiero Raganelli , Quinlan
Beirut Terminus è il viaggio in una zona morta, come la Zona di Stalker, che rappresenta l’innocenza perduta, e mai più ritrovata di quel paese, di quello che una volta era chiamato il paese dei cedri, la Svizzera del Medio Oriente per la sua ricchezza.
Gautaman Bhaskaran , News 18
what the Lebanese director, Elie Kamal, has given us in his neat documentary, Beirut Terminus, is fascinating and truly novel. He uses a train station and the now disused lines to narrate the history of the region, Lebanon in particular, which was once part of the sprawling Ottoman Empire.
Jim Quilty , The daily Star
“Beirut Terminus” unfolds as a tour of abandoned rail infrastructure, conducted by a
guide with an eye for photogenic dereliction. These vistas can be sumptuous or
destitute