Promising Script Drives Class A Crew to Work

George Peter Barbari is an independent filmmaker in Lebanon, or trying to be, as he repeatedly says. He wrote a script for a feature film three years ago that reflects the difficulties we face as Lebanese youth on the day to day and the habits of a country with a mixed-up identity. He has been trying to get this script produced ever since, applying to a countless amount of grants and producers along the way. George was determined to bring his script to the screen so he kept working despite the rejections encountered. Chance brought him to meet with Bee On Set, a production house established in 2016. Upon the first reading, the team knew right away that this is a film worth making. “It’s a smart script, it’s funny, witty, sensible and touches upon necessary topics that represent the majority of the Lebanese population, even discussing existential issues that will resonate with people all over the world,” says Producer Christelle Younes. After sitting down with George and discussing his motivations to making this film, the team wanted to be the ones to help him make it. “We saw his passion and his perseverance and it reflected our work ethic. We reached out to our network of talented technicians, telling them: ‘we have a very good script, a passionate first-time director and zero dollars. Read the script and let us know if you want to be a part of this journey.’ Now, we have 25 of the best people in the industry working for this film absolutely free of charge. A crew whose list of achievements include the Oscars, official selections at the Cannes Film Festival, Netlfix. We could have never expected such a positive outcome, but we understand why this happened. We miss cinema. We miss making films that speak our language, that speak the truth. This is the only reason we do what we do. And we are willing to work for free if it means we get the opportunity to work on something that will make others feel so much. We started pre-production work three months ago and it was almost miraculous how everything came together, the crew, the actors, the circumstances…”, explains producer Reine Semaan. And today production is underway. The main cast is composed of four talented young men who actually grew up together, and who George has been working with for the past two years. The

When he told us that other production houses and grants didn’t even reply or simply said impossible, we promised to make it possible.

rest of the cast is also composed of nonactors except for Soraya Baghdadi who takes on a crucial role in the film. On Sunday the 29th of September, Bee On Set partnered up with Sofar Sounds Beirut to organize a fundraiser for this film, to allocate some of the budget required to cover the basic minimum costs of making a film. Sofar Sounds Beirut have been supporting independent musicians in Beirut for the past three years. Never before has a crew of this caliber come together to work on a film for free, simply for their shared belief in the power of cinema.