Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
Three teenagers explore a divided Beirut as civil war begins reshaping their city and families.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
In 1975, teenagers Tarek, Omar, and May roam West Beirut after civil war divides the city along the Green Line and closes their French school. Super 8 filmmaking, family tensions, checkpoints, and neighborhood exploration turn adolescence into a record of fracture.
Why it belongs
West Beirut filters civil war through teenage curiosity, Super 8 play, friendship, and a city whose familiar routes become borders.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
The young ensemble preserves humor and desire without insulating itself from mounting division. Film cartridges, rooftops, scooters, barricades, schoolyards, electricity cuts, and changing family rooms let conflict enter daily geography.
Major award wins
No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.
Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Date Night
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.
Institutional reference ranks
Sight & Sound—IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score
Great Cinema Master List scores
Greatness8.3
Engagement8.7
Ease8.8
Arabic / French · Not Rated Narrative Feature Mood: Lively & Bittersweet
