I just stumbled across this and I ABSOLUTELY LOVEEEEE it, you guys have to watch! it's a short film called "Beirut, I Love You (I Love You Not)"
Some of you will recognize the opening song--it's "Raksit Leila" by the Lebanese band Mashrou3 Leila which reminds me of the opening of the second "Flying Kebab" episode (see below) also the "This is Yasmine...Yasmine likes..." bit is inspired by Amelie (see clip below). The part after where we see the progression of Yasmine and Tarek's relationship (good to bad times) I recognized as from the short film with Natalie Portman in the movie "Paris, je t'aime" undoubtedly the inspiration for this movie's title (see below)
Enjoy!
Info:
Beirut, I Love You (I Love You Not), a Beirut-ish tribute to Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Amelie Poulain, is a short film by “An Orange Dog Productions” about (fleeting) love & the little pleasures in life, all set and in relation with the very inspiring city of Beirut.
The film has already been selected in: – The Swansea Bay Film Festival – UK (2010) – The International Youth Film Festival – UK (2010) – The International Film Festival of Egypt (2010) – The Lebanese Film Festival of Montreal, Canada (2010) – The Creative Commons Salon in Amman, Jordan (2009)
Most of you have already probably heard of "Lebanon's first web drama" Shankaboot. It follows a poor young Lebanese boy called Sleiman aka "Shankaboot" who lives in Beirut and makes his living as a delivery boy on his 'moto'.
The series is really well made in my opinion, and the actor that plays Shankaboot as well as the extras in the series are great! The girl Rouweida however, in my opinion, really overacts everything...which can get pretty annoying
I personally love the extras the most--so typical Lebanese sometimes it almost seems as if they don't know they're in a series...It makes for a really nice, realistic effect--unlike the Flying Kebab series (more on this in a later post) which was great in the cinematography and music but pretty atrocious in the acting
Anyway, here is an article I recently stumbled across on Shankaboot, as well as all the episodes to date, enjoy!
_____________________________________________
Lebanon's 'Shankaboot' brings Arab drama online
By Natacha Yazbeck (AFP)
TAALABAYA, Lebanon — Driving through Beirut's maze of alleys can demand a certain death-defying flair. So it comes as no coincidence that the hero of the Arab world's first webdrama is a delivery boy -- and his noisy, trusty moped.
The online series follows happy-go-lucky Lebanese delivery boy Sleiman as he zooms through the streets on his "Shankaboot," a name invented for his scooter and title of the drama, delivering food, medicine, a gas cylinder or an oversized floral lampshade which he balances on his head.
"What we aim for is to keep the series close to ordinary, daily life, to the way people are on the streets," said Katia Saleh, producer of the first Arabic-language online sitcom.
Funded by the BBC World Service Trust in cooperation with Saleh's production house Batoota Films, Shankaboot pays tribute to aspects of Beirut overlooked on local television: quirky city residents, underage drivers, class, drugs and prostitution rings.
While films, music and television must first pass muster with Lebanon's general security, using the Internet as a medium has given Shankaboot unprecedented freedom.
As the online use of Arabic grows at record speed and more and more young Arabs gain access to the Internet, Shankaboot makes a change from the diet of Latin American and Turkish soap operas so popular in the region.
The script is witty and crude at the same time, echoing the everyday vernacular of the Lebanese rather than the polished Arabic of dubbed soaps.
"What's popular in the Arab world is Mexican and Turkish drama, and I think Shankaboot has appealed so widely to so many people first because it is well-made and second because it speaks to them," Saleh told AFP on the set in the eastern village of Taalabaya where the crew was shooting season two.
"It speaks their language."
While the Beirut cityscape is dotted with landmarks easily recognisable to anyone who has visited, director Amin Dora instead chose to focus on the city "as Beirutis know it."
"In season one, what I aimed for was to reflect the reality of life in Beirut," Dora said. "We avoided everything artificial. We want to show Beirut as it is."
The quest for authenticity also prompted Dora to cast first-time actors in most of the key roles.
"I think what really helped the authenticity come through was the acting, which is a direct reflection of the reality of the people of Beirut," Dora said.
Starring as Sleiman is first-time actor Hassan Akil, 17, who like his peers was attracted to the project's script and medium.
"I don't watch Lebanese television at all. I think it's totally fake," Akil told AFP on set. "I don't think I would have continued to play Sleiman if the script was fake ... But this is something else, and I'm proud to be contributing to it."
And even before its official launch in May, Shankaboot has already become a hit in the online world with more than 7,000 views and 5,000 Facebook fans, or "Shankaddicts."
"I'm very surprised - and happy -- with the series' success among Lebanese expatriates and foreigners," said Dora. "After the Arab world, most of our hits come from the United States.
"A major concern for us was download time, because we didn't want the viewer to give up on the downloading process," he said of the five-minute episodes.
The first season is made up of 11 episodes during which viewers meet the lovable Sleiman, the beautiful runaway Ruwaida and the enigmatic Chady, whose story is not unveiled until season two.
Sleiman and Ruwaida's lives become intertwined when, chatting on his phone as he speeds down the street, he knocks her over down as she emerges from a bus.
As the complex plot unravels, the series looks at issues of abuse, drugs, and poverty, dotted with generous doses of comic relief.
Season two takes Sleiman, Chady and Ruwaida to the eastern Bekaa Valley -- Lebanon's Wild West -- and introduces characters from rural life, far removed from cosmopolitan Beirut.
Actor Nasri Sayegh, who plays the dark, sinister Chady, said what drew him to the project was its loyalty to the reality of life in Lebanon.
"Lebanon's 'nakha,' its unique flavour, comes out on the screen ... In season one it was Beirut and in season two it is the Bekaa. You can see it, smell it, taste it," said Sayegh, 31.
"Sleiman is the main character," the actor added. "But the real hero is the city" -- from Beirut to the Bekaa and wherever else the noisy little Shankaboot takes the series.
_____________________________________________
Episode 1 - Delivery Interrupted
Episode 2 - Labneh on the Roof with Haifa
Episode 3 - A Fistful of Sandals
Episode 4 - Into the Spider's web
Episode 5 - Down to Earth
Episode 6 - Chantal Superstar?
Episode 7 - The Chrome Phone
Episode 8 - Undercover Chadi
For future episodes, check out the official site of Shankaboothere.
OPens up with that band I mentioned before, Mashrou3 Leila
I also really like the closing scene of the episode which takes place in a typical Lebanese village in the mountains, reminds me of home...sigh (i'll be there is 2 weeks!)
You may have started to hear a little buzz around a Lebanese band called "Mashrou3 Leila" or "Mashrou' Leila."
I actually first stumbled onto them after watching Episode #2 of the "Flying Kebab" series.
Ok, hold on, first things first. Let's give credit where credit is due. I first heard about Flying Kebab after reading The Lebanese Inner Circle's post on it.
Flying Kebab is a film project by three Brazilians. It is a series of short episodes, the first of which takes place in Brazil. In it, the lead character Fernando, or Nando, finds out that he has received some kind of an inheritance in Lebanon, and leaves to go collect it, without really knowing what he is getting or where he is going.
The second episode, titled "The Things I do For You Babe," takes place entirely in Lebanon.
The episode opens up with a really beautiful sequence of shots from Lebanon, all being played to the sound of a song called "Raksit Leila" by Mashrou3 Leila, which is how I discovered the band.
In terms of Flying Kebab, I really like the plot so far, it will be interesting to see where it goes. I'm really enjoying the great shots that they have of Lebanon, plus the funny "only-in-Lebanon" things that take place that you'll only understand if you've been there (i.e. cursing Palestinian taxi driver, etc.) but the acting could be better for sure...
Now back to "Mashrou3 Leila." Check out their MySpace page and listen to their songs. They really are amazing, again, something huge is that you DO NOT HEAR LEBANESE/ARABIC MUSIC LIKE THIS. Is it an absolute reinvention which is modeled off of more underground, Westernized music rather than your traditional mainstream Middle Eastern pop music.
"Chem el Yasmine" is my personal favorite.
( SIDE NOTE: Guys, if you are reading this, you need to PLEASE sell your album online/sell it on Itunes (which is actually very simple for anyone to do) because I lovelovelove you songs and need them on my ipod! Also, can we get a website for the band or at least update your MySpace and make some more info available to the fans? Maybe a Facebook Fanpage (instead of just the group) where you put info about upcoming concerts? Not trying to mainstream you guys, just want access to your music! <3<3 )
Then when you're done with that, check out these pictures. They are the photos of Fernando Borges, that actor in Flying Kebab, who also happens to be an amazing photographer. He has some really good shots of Lebanon, and I mean really good shots, as well as shots of Mashrou3 Leila from a concert they had recently.
BabaGannouj et La Zaytouni Welcome You to their Blog!!
After meeting at University and becoming very close friends, BabaGannouj (homme) and La Zaytouni (femme) soon realized that what they shared in common was not just that they were Lebanese but that they were also very opinionated--and apparently had a lot of time on their hands. After sending hundreds of emails back and forth to each other on interesting articles, blog posts, sites, etc., they decided that other people out there might be interested too.
Thus, the birth of this blog.
We plan to keep it updated, interesting, original, sexy (just felt like throwing that in there)--focusing on Lebanon, the Middle East, and anything else we find hilarious/note worthy.
