A Fire There

Fifteen years of bloody civil war have left deep marks on Lebanon’s politics and society. More than 25 years after the war’s end, the capital, Beirut, is still fraught with tension. Filmmaker Marlene Edoyan follows two women, members of the same generation who apparently have nothing in common. Hayat and Wafaa, one Muslim and the other Christian, live in a place where Hezbollah and the Phalange are well-established political parties, and where nearby conflicts only stir up bad memories. Is reconciliation possible in a city carved up by invisible borders? In masterful direct cinema style, the filmmaker observes ideologies through the often-ignored prism of women’s perspectives.