Tramontane

Tramontane

The film is a search for self–identity under special life circumstances and in a special social environment. Rabih, a young blind man, lives in a small village in Lebanon. His life unravels when he applies for a passport and discovers that his ID card is a forgery. Roaming through rural Lebanon in search of a record of his own birth, he meets people on the far fringes of society who tell their own stories, open further questions and give him minor clues about his identity. He encounters a nation incapable of telling his or its own history. Sounding political resonance between the blind man’s intimate story and the Lebanese countryside, the picture articulates larger political and cultural themes that infuse the story. Set and shot entirely on location in Lebanon, Tramontane teems with strong emotions while avoiding pathos. The role of the young blind man is played masterfully by Barakat Jabbour.

  • Year:
    2015
  • Runtime:
    105
  • Country:
    Lebanon, France, Quatar, United Arab Emirates
  • Director:
    Vatche Boulghourjian
  • Screenplay:
    Vatche Boulghourjian
  • Dir. of Photography:
    James Lee Phelan
  • Music:
    Cynthia Zaven
  • Editor:
    Nadia Ben Rachid
  • Cast:
    Barakat Jabbour, Julia Kassar, Toufic Barakat
  • Production:
    Rebus Film Production, Abbout Productions, Le Bureau Films
  • Sales:
    The Bureau Sales
  • Festivals:
    Cannes 2016, Munich 2016, Karlovy Vary 2016, Namur 2016, BFI London 2016

Schedule:

12.11.2016 13:30 Kino Lumière (K1)
16.11.2016 15:30 Kino Lumière (K1)

About the Director:

Vatche Boulghourjian

Vatche Boulghourjian  (1975, Kuwait) is a Lebanese filmmaker. He holds an MFA from New York University’s (NYU) Graduate Film Program. Before attending NYU, Boulghourjian worked around the Middle East on documentaries for television networks while also making independent shorts, experimental films, and documentaries. Fifth Column, his thesis film at NYU, won Third Prize in the Cinéfondation programme at the Cannes IFF in 2010. This year his first feature fiction film, Tramontane, premiered during the Critics’ Week at Cannes.