Thiiird

In a village outside of Beirut, amidst scrap metal, chickens and goats, the quiet Fouad runs a mechanic’s garage with a detached but soothing presence. His customers, both old and young, are invited to sit and drink coffee while they wait for their vehicles to be repaired. In these moments of stillness, the garage becomes a haven for people to express their growing despair amidst the economic collapse that surrounds them. No jobs. Sleepless nights. The burden of school tuition. No one is safe. As the darkness closes in, Fouad must undertake a deeply symbolic, transcendent journey through his own psyche: a search for the other side.

In his third feature film, the final of a hybrid trilogy that includes Only The Winds (2020) and Octopus (2021), Karim Kassem fosters a poetic, sensory exploration into the texture and concept of existence, teetering in the confines of a collective despair. Shot in stark black-and-white, Kassem uses naturalism to allow for moments to linger and breathe, creating a profoundly lyrical emblem of current-day Lebanon.

Subject/actor Fouad Mahouly is a striking presence, both withered and magnetic, conveying the nuance of an inner transformation with the delicate, aching soulfulness of being.

– Fiona Armour