Around the Pink House , directed by Khalil Joreige and Joana Hadjithomas, examines postwar Beirut. Bombs have been replaced by bulldozers. The entire center of the city, much of it reduced to rubble by the years of fighting, is being razed to the ground and reconstruction is under way. The poor are being excluded, along with memories of the past, emotional attachments and the possibility of a society not based on the power of money. Two families have squatted in a shell-scarred mansion for the duration of the fighting.
Rifts develop between the two families.
A television reporter enters the scene, encouraging the conflict and staging its various episodes before the camera. The film portrays a society that has in no way resolved the issues that led to the civil war and lives largely in self-delusion. We will be posting an interview with co-director Joreige. Generalized conditions From the sociological point of view, the more perceptive films in San Francisco, whether social issues were their primary focus or not, suggested that certain generalized conditions are making themselves felt in many parts of the world. A French, Turkish or Lebanese filmmaker may use virtually identical terms to describe the situation in his or her country.