WAVES '98

In his highly acclaimed Waves '98, winner of the Palme d'or at Cannes in 2015, Ely Dagher deconstructs his love-hate relationship with his home city, in a beautiful self-reflective piece of filmmaking.  Shots of live action are employed together with several types of animation techniques to tell the story of Omar, whose experience of living in segregated post civil war Beirut adds to the inherent turmoils that harrow any teenager. Quotidian expeditions up the rooftop of his school reveal yet the same grim view of a city drenched in despair and uncertainty, parts of which he is not even allowed to tread. Until the day a giant golden elephant turns up drifting in the sky. Sucked into the giant's belly, Omar discovers - and the viewer with him, a world he never knew even existed. It may be a hopeful version of the city that takes shape in Omar's imagination. At times, it  shatters to pieces, but the fragments come together again. Eventually, the dream comes to an end, and, above a city of a less grim appearance, a golden elephant floats gently away. (Adina Marin, BIEFF)