29 March, 2024
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Lebanese Film Festival Opening Night: A true celebration of Lebanon in Sydney

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Serenaded by the magnificent tunes reminiscent of Lebanon in a beautifully ornamented Bryan Brown Theatre and Function Centre in Bankstown, the long-awaited 10th Edition of the Lebanese Film Festival in Sydney was launched on 25 August 2022.

Guests were welcomed on a magnificent Red Carpet and served amazing food provided by Tayta’s which included mainly typical Lebanese items such as Labneh, Kebbeh, Sambousek, and an unforgettable Shish Barak, among others. While enjoying the beautiful live music, the guests mingled and caught up after a long COVID break before being ushered into the theatre for the beginning of the event.

After a beautiful symphony that kicked off the event, Antoinette Lattouf, Australian-Lebanese journalist and author, served as the Master of Ceremony and welcomed the guests before calling Camille Lattouf to the stage. As the co-director of the Lebanese Film Festival, Camille welcomed the guests and especially the dignitaries which included Australian icon Bryan Brown after whom the theatre is named, and Mayor Khal Asfour & Clr Rachelle Harika from the Canterbury-Bankstown council, in addition to international guest and award winning Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri. Camille’s welcome note was followed by another from Julia Lattouf, also co-director of the Lebanese Film Festival, who thanked the event sponsors, which included Oz Arab Media. Soon afterwards, Antoinette welcomed Bryan Brown to the stage followed by Mayor Khal Asfour and other keynote speakers who highlighted the importance of the event and how it shows the true image and culture of the Lebanese people, unlike the one usually portrayed in the media. The final speech was a video-recorded message from State Premier Dominic Perrottet who congratulated the LFF organisers for the event and conveyed his apologies for not being able to attend in person.

Once the speeches were concluded, guests were treated to a screening of Memory Box, a Lebanese -Canadian film portraying memories of the war in Lebanon and how a mother and her daughter relived these memories through a box of photos and recordings they received in the mail on Christmas.  After the screening, guests were served a nice Lebanese dessert alongside ice cream and Lebanese coffee back in the main hall.

Based on this tremendous opening event, this year’s Lebanese Film Festival is delivering its promise to be bigger and better than ever before. We cannot wait to see what’s coming up. For you to be a part of it, make sure to visit https://lff.org.au/program/.

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