LSC Event Descriptions

February 21, 2007

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unrated
28 minutes

 A FREE Screening and Presentation by Director Omar Naim
Grand Theater: A Tale of Beirut (1999)
February 21, 2007 at 8:00 pm in 54-100

As part of the Beirut Uncut Film Series and in collaboration with the MIT Lebanese Club, we are proud to host Lebanese director, Omar Naïm, in a special director's screening and discussion of his internationally acclaimed documentary Grand Theater: A Tale of Beirut. Naïm's first feature-length film, The Final Cut starring Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, and Jim Caviezel, will be screened on Thursday, February 22.

Grand Theater: A Tale of Beirut is a documentary viewing the Lebanese Civil War, as well as its roots and aftermath, through the eyes of an old theater. The stories of actors, directors, soldiers, and civilians intersect and intertwine at the Grand Theater, giving us a vivid portrait of a city under siege. As the atrocity and absurdity of war escalates, the lines between war and theater, and between performance and reality, are blurred.

Born in Lebanon to a journalist father and an actress mother, Omar Naïm is a promising Arab-American director and writer in Hollywood who openly discusses his heritage. Although Naïm acknowledges and embraces his culture, he refuses to be defined solely by it. Instead, it is his unique talent and often quirky perspective that has earned him the respect of Hollywood powerhouses. In 2004, he wrote and directed his first feature film, The Final Cut, which starred Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, and Jim Caviezel. The film won the best screenplay award at the Deauville Film Festival and was an official selection of the Berlin Film Festival. His thesis documentary, Grand Theater: A Tale of Beirut, was a finalist for the Student Oscar given by the AMPAS in 2000. Naïm was raised in Jordan, Cyprus, and Lebanon and attended Emerson College in Boston. Omar Naïm currently lives and works in Los Angeles. [web.mit.edu/lebanon/www]

February 21, 2007 ← Previous | Spring 2007 schedule | Next →