From the makers of Gaza (2019), this film is a searing and intimate portrait of Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut, home to some of the poorest and most downtrodden people in the city. As well as three generations of Palestinian refugees, there are also new arrivals from the war in Syria and undocumented Lebanese trying to get by. The filmmakers document the personal lives of residents of these marginalised  communities and refugee camps of Beirut through their struggles of hard work and low pay, drug addiction, lack of identity papers and the memories of war, all while their city and country fall apart around them.

Post-screening Q&A

Garry Keane

Garry Keane studied film at the London College of Communication and at the Irish National Film School, then worked as a director of photography in New York and London, before finally settling in Ireland, where he has been a documentary filmmaker for the last 25 years. In 2011, he set up Real Films and since then Keane’s documentaries have been nominated for 11 Irish Film & Television Academy Awards; of these, his films have won four, including two in the Best Director: TV category in 2013 and 2018. In the Shadow of Beirut is Ireland’s official selection for the Oscars.