Beau Rivage by Claude El Khal. Lebanon, 2003, 8 min, DVD US première

The title Beau Rivage is taken from the name of the hotel that served from 1997 and until recently, as the Syrian intelligence headquarters in West Beirut. It carries the psychological weight of interrogation, torture, and assassination. In this tightly edited film, dramatic, contrasting highlights and cutting irony reveal a cheerful hotel employee presenting the finest of services to an agonized woman in an isolation chamber. Beau Rivage offers a haunting and evocative metaphor. In French with English subtitles.

Sun, Nov 6, 10:00

Cast and Crew:

Cast: Sandra Chidiac, Laya Rahman
Writer: Claude el-Khal
Producer: Claude el-Khal
Cinematographer: Muriel Aboulrouss
Editor: Rania Ghosn
Sound/Music: Rania Ghosn, Claude el-Khal

Filmmaker Bio:

Claude el-Khal was born in 1967 in Beirut and raised in Paris. He worked in
theater with Patrick Simon, as an illustrator and writer for children's books, and in advertising in London and Dubaï. He directed his first short fiction film, Bloody Mary Afternoon in 1998. Beau Rivage is his second short fiction film.

Festivals/ Awards:

  • Cinémed Festival, Montpellier, France, 2004
  • Né à Beyrouth Festival, Beirut, Lebanon, 2004

Print Source:

Claude el-Khal
Mezzanine, Ivoire Center, Block B, Sin el-Fil, Horsh Tabet, Beirut, Lebanon
Phone: (961 3) 950 458
Email: claudeelkhal@yahoo.co.uk