‘BEIRUT ART FILM FESTIVAL 3rd Edition’

The Beirut Art Film Festival – BAFF – was created three years ago, at a transitional moment when the massive destruction of the region’s national heritage had reached a critical point. Given the mission that we have set ourselves, seen in parallel with the monstrous and tragic loss of human life, we believe it is important to share the awareness we had back then of the cultural, architectural, archaeological and patrimonial riches with which the Middle East abounds, and of the sad reality of their eradication.

This urgency of ours turned out to meet a genuine expectation from the Lebanese audience. Everything happens for a reason!

From its inception, the BAFF has likewise been committed to support the work of other Lebanese researchers, filmmakers, NGOs, artists and archaeologists – and to help rouse and mobilize young people around the country on the subject of our heritage; a key vehicle for living together, for the destiny of this country and its message to the world.  

Unique in its concept and original in its implementation, the BAFF is not a competition. It does not offer any laurels; it is a festival dedicated to art and cinema.

The BAFF in two stages
• 14 - 19 November 2017: the BAFF Intramuros takes over the Metropolis-Empire-Sofil’s two cinema auditoriums for the national premiere of fifty documentaries.
• 6 - 25 November: the BAFF Extramuros sets out to meet the public audience outside the capital, organising screening in schools, universities, cultural centres, etc.

For three years now, the BAFF has grown due to the combined generosity of: loyal Lebanese and international patrons – and a group of dynamic and motivated volunteers, wholeheartedly led by Alice Mogabgab.

Last but not least, the BAFF is not a festival cloistered in its ivory tower. Far from it!

For art only touches the heart if and when it engages in the human and social life of the city in which it develops. The BAFF thus partners with ‘community’ artists, giving 4 evening events at 4 Lebanese NGOs.