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28 Jan – 7 Feb 2027

The Insult

L'insulte

Ziad Doueiri | France, Lebanon | 2017 | 113' | | IFFR 2018

It all starts so low-key. Some water leaks from Toni’s balcony onto the contractor Yasser. He says something about it and Toni curses back. An ordinary quarrel like so many, every day. But this is Beirut, and Toni and Yasser stand on different sides of a deep political, cultural and religious rift.

As a result, their personal feud quickly escalates into a national commotion. Hot-tempered Toni is a Christian, from a group that feels increasingly threatened in today’s Lebanon. Yasser is a Palestinian refugee. Both feel personally hurt by the insults the other throws at them. The two are forced to face up to their deep-rooted prejudice.
Lebanese filmmaker Ziad Doueiri shot his previous film, The Attack, in Israel – and this also resulted in a furore in his homeland. This time he aims his arrows at Lebanon itself, where the old wounds of the Civil War that ended in 1990 are ignored but in fact are still painfully open.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year.

 

 

Film details

Countries of production
France, Lebanon
Year
2017
Festival edition
IFFR 2018
Length
113'
Medium/Format
DCP