Lebanese Director Wins Best Film At Amsterdam Film Festival

Lebanese director Karim Kassem’s largely non-speaking film “Octopus” has recently been awarded “Best Film” in the Envision Competition at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam.


Kassem had initially arrived in Beirut to film another idea (the original “Octopus) when the explosion rocked the city. He then changed the premise of the film and began documenting.

“Octopus” would now be centered around the aftermath of the August 4 blast with dialogue-free footage of the demolished city, walking viewers through the severity of this calamity as they roam through demolished shops, streets, and homes. The footage collected of the aftermath shows the pain on people’s faces shortly after the incident, an eerie depiction of a city now haunted by an inconceivable pain.

Kassem expressed the obstacles he faced while shooting the film during a Q&A at the festival saying, “It was very difficult because I had to approach everyone. But it was also a little easier for me because I experienced the explosion myself, so the conversations that took place prior to setting up the camera were imperative to get access into their world”.

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