Lebanese Film Festival celebrates land and people
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The “Rif Cinema” festival in northern Lebanon’s Akkar region will run from September 25 to 27, bringing together local communities and filmmakers to discuss cultural and environmental challenges.
Since 2019, the festival, known as “Rif Encounters,” has served as a cultural and environmental platform rooted in the Akkar region. It facilitates national discussions about cultural and environmental issues within a rural setting, utilizing cinema, art, and public participation.
This year’s edition, titled “Land and its People,” will feature short documentary films, including works addressing biodiversity and cinema. The festival will also host a competition celebrating environmental storytelling, awarding the “Hekl Makhayel Prize” for the best environmental film, alongside awards for the best Francophone environmental film and audience/youth choices. Alongside the film screenings, the festival will hold a seminar on protecting the rivers of Akkar, addressing the environmental and legal challenges facing the region's waterways.
It will also honor the late Akkar farmer Hekl Makhayel, who transformed the “Shambouk” land into a space for gathering and sustainable agriculture, and the late environmental activist Mona Khalil, who dedicated her life to protecting sea turtles in Sour. The festival’s president, Dr. Antoine Daher, noted the festival gives significant attention to southern Lebanon, a region that has suffered from recent conflict and land loss, while still maintaining a strong connection to its land and roots.
Approximately 12 films focusing on Lebanon’s biodiversity, created by filmmakers and environmental enthusiasts, will be screened.
