Marie-Louise Elia

Jean-Claude walks his dog in a neighborhood forever stuck in reconstruction. On his trip, he wonders about life, mortality, and 'what if' scenarios while remembering fragments from the direct impact of the second that almost cost him his life on August 4. At the moment of the explosion, the end of the world, bodies, buildings, roads, and cities may shatter. Perhaps the universe itself breaks apart. But the most severe fragmenting remains that of memory. A picture here and a sound there are vaguely reconstituted. Can a future be built from such a memory? Can it rebuild what was lost? Is it time to leave?

A night shoot. The Crew is exhausted. The Producer is enraged. The Director is lost. The Star is killed. The Gun is real. Everyone is a suspect.

Karim, a young Lebanese man, goes looking for his bride - who abandoned him on their wedding day - in the neighbourhoods of Beirut. Through his inner monologue, we discover his mixed feelings towards Beirut.

A short film that navigates the filmmaker's intimate journey with death and other fears. Through the filmmaker’s inner monologue, the film explores the universal struggle with mortality.

Set during the Lebanese revolution, WE NEVER LEFT portrays a heart-wrenching duality between Beirut and New York, an impassioned testament to the Lebanese diaspora’s unrequited but irrepressible love for their homeland.