SYNOPSIS
Amid the ruins of 1980s Beirut, the film revisits the city through young Fida’s eyes. Her nightmarish memories of daily walks to school past corpses and artillery are reawakened by uneasy reunions with former militia members. Fida confronts a terrifying truth: the men who promised protection were the source of her fear. Weaving together miniature sets, archival footage, and interviews, the film delicately pieces together a fractured narrative of trauma, distorted memory, and a city’s enduring wounds and silences.
REVIEW
Told through a striking blend of animation and documentary, Green Line reconstructs a wartime childhood in Beirut using meticulously crafted miniature sets and figurines. For co-writer Fida Bizri, who grew up in the war-ravaged city (1975–1990), the film is an excavation of memory—shaped in part by her grandmother’s vivid “tales of hell.” In a world where death was treated with chilling casualness, she was compelled from a young age to reflect on the value of life and the meaning of war. As an adult, Bizri turns her lens toward those who directly endured the conflict—militias, enemies, and allies alike—seeking to voice the inexpressible.
Within the confines of her intricate dioramas, she revisits and re-evaluates the past. The result is a unique hybrid documentary in which the act of remembering becomes a performance. By physically retracing her experiences, Bizri fuses personal history with inventive visual form, offering both historical reflection and a broader perspective on global conflict. This poignant journey merges memory with history to build a powerful bridge of empathy. In recalling the suffering of innocent civilians—especially children—the film delivers a clear and devastating verdict: no ideology, whether nationalist, socialist, or otherwise, is worth the bloodshed it demands.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
By inviting Fida to revisit her past and confront the militiamen, Sylvie Ballyot immerses us, without judgment, in a universal vision of war where, beyond the causes each defends, a bomb remains a bomb.
CONTACT
MAD Solutions
distribution@mad-solutions.com
