Beirut in Black and White

In a brilliant student-made short film directed and produced by Marie-Louise Elia, a young Lebanese man named Karim wanders around Beirut, narrating his emotions.

Created for the Filmmaking Masters of the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts – Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA), Elia uses both Classical and Arabic music as well as a black-and-white color scheme to convey a sort of whimsical wandering that takes you on an amusingly nostalgic trip throughout Beirut.

Searching for the bride that abandoned him on his wedding day, Karim harbors an intense love and hate for Beirut, conveying feelings that most Lebanese people can easily empathize with.

Running around the city while laughing, swearing, singing (and pretty damn well), and sighing, Karim’s lovesick adventure mirrors everyone’s relationship with our beloved city: We hate to love it but love to hate it. We might one day leave it, but at the end of the day, we’ll always be just like Karim, softly asking “will you give me a second chance?”