L'Armée des fourmis

Four darkly funny tales about Lebanon: Activists planning a protest descend into internal strife. Three sisters and their mother argue while an incompetent plumber destroys their flat. Depressed life coach Malek wants to die and seeks help from a «death coach». A stand-up comedian who jokes about a meteor strike that could put Lebanon out of its misery, is blamed when it appears to come true.

Mehdia, an Ethiopian migrant domestic worker in Beirut, loves Ahmed, a Syrian refugee who struggles to survive dealing in second-hand metal scraps, while affected by a mysterious physical condition related to shrapnel wounds exposure during the war. Their love story seems to have no future, but since they have nothing, they can lose nothing. When the opportunity presents itself, they leave Beirut in a hopeful and desperate get-away while Ahmed’s physical condition gets worse and worse.

After 20 years apart, Samir a former militiaman who was presumed dead, reappears in the life of Omar, his little brother who has become a bodyguard in Beirut. Between drama and comedy, Samir has to come to terms with a country he no longer recognizes.

Beirut, Lebanon. On the waterfront’s construction site, security agent Raed must prevent passing-by walkers from accessing the seaside. Yet as the horizon becomes each day more stifled by the construction, Raed makes peculiar encounters—mere dreams, or symbols of his desires?

In Liban, Chadi, a thirteen-year-old boy, the top of his class, discovers that he can make money from his talent. But money is not really the target. Instead, he wants to attract the interest of pretty Raya, whom he dares not speak to.

The film gives voice to Lebanese teenagers, filmed in different regions of the country - Tripoli, Sidon, Hermel... Coming from different backgrounds, they express themselves on the future, their future, their desires and fears, on their role models, their link to family, politics, memories. They talk with the frankness and funniness of children and yet, also with the maturity of adults. Through a series of simple and open questions, the documentary draws an intimate portrait of today's Lebanese youth.