To Baalback Festival : Our treasure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qNfDUhqgRA 

I came across this video by a friend, this is how i usually get my news about lebanon through friends and facebook, and sometimes i find it interesting to see what beirut is doing and what are those lebanese artists are up to, but the shock that kept me speechless for few moments is that some priests and close-minded people are spreading hate messages about Baalbak festival and this show in particular, by attacking the artists of using a musical melody from the bible and turned those musical coral into a tangible art !! into a physical magical movements by very serious and professional performers. 

you know what is funny and sad is the ability we have to destroy beautiful things. we have mastered destruction in every possible way in our life. we started in human relations, by cutting a man’s penis for being in love, and allowing a man to kill his wife, by destroying our historical buildings, our old traditional houses, our green windows, balconies and greek and Phoenician ruins that were beautiful and randomly scattered all around lebanon to build malls and parking spaces. yet we never stopped, some of us are still hungry to integrate sectarianism into cultural festivals. !! 

in all the times i was in beirut, the only stable thing in this city was having annual festivals that kept running day after day and always followed the saying” the show must go on” even during times of crisis where beirut was going under hard times, we always saw those festivals as a peaceful horizon showing us that having a peaceful life is still possible. and brought to our memories the old beirut that was famous for culture, and was the center of middle east, indeed beirut was a cultural hub of the arab world and was always the first in inviting modern artists, beirut always was known for embracing new artistic events, holding galleries for famous and international painters and performers and so forth. beirut this beautiful city had a unique voice for culture and arts and was the voice of “original art” i was always proud of baalback festival, for creating a universal hub inside the ruins to tell the world that our country appreciate art no matter what the background may be. this is why i never missed a show and always supported it when i was outside lebanon. despite that i missed couple of shows before and i will be missing this year’s shows since i don’t live in lebanon anymore, but that never was a reason, i always comforted myself that lebanon will be fine since baalback festival was still going on,

we desperately need such cultural windows. we have reached to a dead end in lebanon, i can’t imagine that priests are attacking a respectable organization that is trying to promote for tasteful art and promote for universal culture and promote for lebanon and bring it back as the hub of the middle east, but no, those people decided to attack it, to attack a show that is embracing religion like a musical expression yet they say it harmed our society and our religion… then if they think this is harmful why then do they allow themselves to see Maya Diab ‘s cleavage and asshole every time on screen ? then why do we allow night clubs in beirut to host foreign strip dancers to dance in large glass- metal Champagne cups- and allow them to dip their bodies in the large glass like a cheap slave ? showing their entire body naked the way nature intended ? so basically showing nudity in clubs, and stripping our own tv shows, is allowed but waving our arms and bodies entirely covered on the sound of a Christian melody is forbidden ? 

i live in new york city, when ever i say i’m from lebanon they tell me 
oh you are from Las vegas of the middle east. 
they keep saying it !! after we used to hear paris of the middle east
our ignorance has brought us down to be compared to a city in US that people gamble their money away and sleep under stripper’s thighs 

i salut you dear lebanese for officially destroying the last thing your country have ever represented CULTURE !! 

An advice from a concerned citizen and from a culture lover – take care of your festivals and guard them with your heart and soul – invest your time !!!! in them these are the mirror, to others, those represent your country to the world ! 

Farah

Leila’s wedding : Review part 1 فرح ليلى

I have watched 9 episodes so far from the show “Fara7 Leila” ( Leila’s Wedding). Although i love watching Leila Elwi doing pretty much anything on screen, and i have always admired her acting except that i have noticed a lot of weakness points in this show’s script.

The story itself is not powerful or convincing enough to be told in 30 episodes, i have come to the realization that the show ‘s plot is being stretched like slices of mozzarella on a pizza. i mean the character of Leila is not written well ; i  know leila is marvelous and it is not her fault. it is the director and writer’s fault for not able to write and construct a powerful tv character, leila’s character through out 9 episodes her feelings toward the british- Egyptian guy didn’t evolve one bit where is the emotional ladder ? . i mean the guy took her father to hospital, he helped her in every possible way, he helped her to be a photographer for a wedding, he is still considered a stranger in her eyes. i mean when are they planning to set a scene for them to at least have “the talk”, or at least show some hints that Leila is starting to admire this man, but all i saw is her being put in ridiculous circumstances, her sister gets knocked up, her father gets sick and she keeps screaming left and right and specially sometimes on the innocent helpful british guy ? ! why is that ?

what surprises me that most of the characters are not properly constructed or written well. i believe that leila’s character should evolve quicker responding to what is happening around her. i mean 4 episodes earlier she didn’t want to call him for considering him a stranger, and she suddenly took him for granted to help her in her family problems … why is that ? what is his motive ?

there are no clear motives for each character and this is a result of lack of creativity, and i know that this man should be a clear mystery to the world and to leila but at least we should establish that he is foreigner, showing his passport or putting candles in his room is not a solid representation of a character. i mean why is this late 30 something – early 40’s British Egyptian guy likes to sleep with candles being lit ? i mean who does that ?

i understand maybe the director is trying to show the man as being bohemian, free spirited but thats not how you show  it on screen. a simple phone call or a simple action of him in the middle of “west el ballad” can tell us that he came from abroad.

The most intoxicating and beautiful character in the entire show, the character of the annoying neighbor, ahmad kamal  magically and professionally mastered the role of the annoying neighbor and portrayed the status of the lonely man so perfectly that made a lot of viewers hate his guts. that means he succeeded in translating that ugly character.

i don’t understand why leila’s sister would hide her marriage and sleep with a loser, i mean of course i understand love is blind, but the story has showed us that “Mai” is living in a moderately free spirited house, she is a painter and her sister is a cool wedding planner, and her friends and students are rappers and aritsts and singers, i mean she is living in a free open minded crowd why is she being afraid from being touched by her “so called husband” or being seen with him. or not even telling her own sister.

her actions and her lifestyle two different characters i don’t know how they are integrated into one. maybe if she had a problem at the house, she could have 1 % motivation to hide from her unfair parents. Yes i know she is not allowed to be married until leila is, but cinematically speaking that is not a valid or strong reason to be shown on television, the script needs a powerful reason.

there are so many other strange moments, for example what is the relationship between that old sick mother and her daughter who is trying to find a job and pay the rent, and the rest of the leila’s family ? when are we going to see a link between those two stories ?

and why is it that leila is always angry and screaming and out of a sudden she is working on weddings and sometimes she is not. where is the consistency ?

I still didn’t see why Leila didn’t pay for british-egyption guy ( Adham) for his work as a photographer in her wedding. why is that ?

I love the new talents that are mushrooming in Egypt and i will keep watching hoping for the show to get better !!

to be continued ..