The REEF festival, which focuses on natural heritage, cinema and rural culture, has announced the program for its fifth edition. It will be held in Kobayat, North Lebanon, from August 31 to September 4 and in Hermel, Bekaa, from September 8 to 10.
The 2023 edition of REEF will revolve around transformations in the natural environment: climate change, water pollution, deforestation, drought, and migrations of animal species leading to social, demographic, and cultural mutations. The festival will also address the alternatives and solutions emerging from these changes: new lifestyles, sustainable consumption patterns and solidarity movements.
REEF 2023 is organized by the Kobayat Environment Committee and Aflamuna. It includes a series of activities, all free of charge and accessible to the general public.
In Kobayat
In Kobayat, events will take place at the Magnanerie, a historic monument dating back to the eighteenth century, where the public can also discover a market of local products.
The five-day program includes film and performing arts events, as well as the first-ever screening in Lebanon of a selection of Arab and international films, many of which have won awards at international festivals. The screenings will be followed by discussions with the public in the presence of some of the directors.
A competition for short and medium-length movies is also planned. 11 Arab short films will be competing for two prizes awarded by a professional jury comprising actress Nada Bou Farhat, director Hady Zaccak and visual effects expert and post-producer Mahmoud Korek. In addition, as an amateur jury, the young REEF ambassadors will award a prize to their favorite medium-length film from a selection of five international productions. The competing films will be screened at the festival before the results are announced.
As part of the REEF festival, audiences will also be able to discover mini-films made by women from Akkar during a “One Minute for a Film” workshop organized by Egyptian filmmaker Amal Ramsis, as well as animated films produced by young people aged 13 to 18 under the guidance of Fadi Syriani, founder of the Youth Animation Platform.
Other activities on the program include musical parades, entertainment by the Vol Terre clown in the streets of the town, a plastic waste transformation workshop organized by Cedar Environmental under the direction of Ziad Abi Chaker, a fashion show using “upcycled” clothing, and hikes around three themed trails: “on the water springs trail”, “geological transformations” and “the art trail”. Registration for the hikes is compulsory at 81/073756.
Registration at 81/073756 is also required for the “Geology of a Fable” show on September 1, at 8 pm, and for The Knowledge Workshop’s “What Remains of Ecology and Economy” conference, which is bound to take place on September 4, at 5 pm.
In Hermel
Activities will take place on the premises of the Hermel Cultural Association and at the Maison de l’Oronte. Highlights of the festival will include two mornings of activities in nature: rafting on the Assi River, hikes in the highlands of Hermel, screenings of Arab films and one-minute films by Hermel women, conferences on the challenges of preserving the Assi River, where various Hermel experts will outline the challenges and solutions for preserving this vital resource, a conference on food sovereignty, a concert with musician and oud player Hussein Khalil and Hermel talents, and a creative workshop for youngsters.
The musical evening on September 8 as well as the hikes are only available upon registration by calling 71/246296.
The full program can be viewed by clicking here.
