Villages of the absent

This poetic documentary depicts the slow passage of time in Ain Bal.

Ain-Bal, our childhood village, counts 70 inhabitants today, but had 4000 a few decades ago. Since then, this village spends most of his time hoping, screaming the names of those who left, and waiting for their return. 4 of those 70 villagers talk about passing time, each of them suffering from some kind of absence. This poetic documentary illustrate the slow passage of time in Ain-Bal, a Lebanese village submerging the memories of the past with a slumbering present.

starring
Maha Khodr, Wajdi Abu Zaki, Ahlam Abu Zaki

A film by Omar Shami Nasr

Lebanon / France, 2016, Documentary, 52 mins

Original Title: CEUX QUI RESTENT
International Title (English): VILLAGES OF THE ABSENT
Genre: documentary
Production year: 2016
Countries of origin: France, Lebanon
Language: Arabic
Runtime: 52 minutes
Color: Color

CAST
Maha Khodr... Self
Wajdi Abu Zaki... Self
Ahlam Abu Zaki... Self
Joseph Abdel Baki... Self

Produced by
Serge Lalou... producer
Carmen Labaki... producer
Elodie Dombre... line producer
Sophie Cabon... production intern
Marc Moreno... production intern

DIRECTOR
Omar Shami Nasr

SCREENWRITERS
Omar Shami Nasr
Ola Shami

Music by
Bc Campbell

Cinematography by
Omar Shami Nasr

Film Editing by
Florence Jacquet

Sound
Rifaat Ghanem
Rayan Housam Eddine
Hani Rawas

Re-recording mixer / sound editor
Marc Siffert

Production Manager
Hass Chami

Colorist
Graziella Zanoni

Production company:
Betterfly Pictures
Les Films d'Ici Méditerranée