Boosted by the success of recent local movies Bosta and, more significantly, Caramel (Sukkar Banat), the Lebanese cinema industry is showing renewed potential that – industry insiders hope – will attract producers previously wary of investing in it.
The Lebanese movie industry has, for years, been split into two camps: The have-littles and the have-nots. Some relatively low-budget local feature films such as Ghannoujit Baya (which recently set a new record in Lebanon with over 250,000 tickets sold), have proven both popular and moderately profitable. However, their production values fall far short of international standards. On the other hand, more ambitious projects that require more cash are usually unable to find financing.
MAKE IT PROFITABLE. The problem lies in the fact that the only financing available for Lebanese movies has traditionally come from European – particularly French – cultural funds, which required an “intellectual” focus. In practical terms this meant the films had to deal either with the civil war or relationships between the various Lebanese religious communities. Neither of which are recipes for box-office blockbusters.
Caramel, directed by former music-video specialist Nadine Labaky (who helped make Nancy Ajram a regional musical phenomenon through her innovative videos a few years ago), was an exception to the Euro-funding rule. Pan-Arab station ART provided the majority of the funding, showing a new-found faith in Lebanese movies.
Still, Gabriel Chamoun warns, “Institutions remain cautious.” Chamoun is one of the founders of Liban Cinema, a foundation established in 2003 to help promote the Lebanese movie industry.
According to Chamoun, at least four feature films will be produced in Lebanon in 2008 that should reach a wider audience than was previously possible, in addition to promoting quirky underground productions.
Chamoun, who wants to create a Lebanese financing fund for cinema, explains that a movie in Lebanon costs a minimum of $800,000 to $1 million to make.
“Such an investment cannot be profitable in the Lebanese market exclusively,” he says. “The movie must be sold outside Lebanon and appeal to many different audiences, which is not easy. For instance, Bosta and Caramel didn’t succeed in Dubai; the expatriate audience wasn’t interested in them.”
Meanwhile, younger potential directors often see shooting films in Lebanon as a risk, because of the lack of organization in the Lebanese film industry. “It’s a matter of trust,” says Marc Hadife, head of production house City Films. “There’s no author rights protection law in Lebanon.”
FILM FOR THE FUTURE. Slowly, though, the Lebanese movie landscape is shifting. Beirut-based production house Signature is currently producing an ambitious movie in Morocco and the US, directed by owner Nabil Issa. And Hadife says he has plans for City Films to produce several full-length features next year. Newcomer LCI Entertainment has various movie projects in its sights too, including a $15 million epic.
LCI’s Beirut manager, Wadih Safieddine, has also established Né.à Beyrouth, a production house that organizes the Lebanese Film Festival and produces DVDs. “Né.à Beyrouth will probably enter a partnership with LCI Entertainment,” he says. “The former will be exclusively dedicated to movie production and the latter may take charge of the festival and the DVD production.”
If these new ventures result in higher-quality productions that appeal to people outside the Lebanese market, the filmmakers hope to see an influx of local capital from investors that will encourage further development of the industry in the near future.
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