As part of the BEIRUT UNCUT FILM SERIES and in collaboration with MIT’s Lecture Series Committee (LSC), the LCM is proud to host Lebanese director, Omar Naïm, in a special director’s screening and discussion of his internationally acclaimed documentary Grand Theater: A Tale of Beirut at MIT tomorrow, Wednesday, February 21, at 8pm. Naïm’s first feature-length film, The Final Cut starring Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, and Jim Caviezel, will be screened on Thursday.

About the Director
Born in Lebanon to a journalist father and an actress mother, Omar Naïm is a promising Arab-American director and writer in Hollywood who openly discusses his heritage. Although Naïm acknowledges and embraces his culture, he refuses to be defined solely by it. Instead, it is his unique talent and often quirky perspective that has earned him the respect of Hollywood powerhouses. In 2004, he wrote and directed his first feature film, The Final Cut, which starred Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, and Jim Caviezel. The film won the best screenplay award at the Deauville Film Festival and was an official selection of the Berlin Film Festival. His thesis documentary, Grand Theater: A Tale of Beirut, was a finalist for the Student Oscar given by the AMPAS in 2000. Naïm was raised in Jordan, Cyprus, and Lebanon and attended Emerson College in Boston. Omar Naïm currently lives and works in Los Angeles (more…).

Director’s Screening & Discussion with Naïm
Grand Theater: A Tale of Beirut
wednesday . feb 21 . 8pm . free . bldg 54-100 . map
A documentary viewing the Lebanese Civil War, as well as its roots and aftermath, through the eyes of an old theater. The stories of actors, directors, soldiers, and civilians intersect and intertwine at the Grand Theater, giving us a vivid portrait of a city under siege. As the atrocity and absurdity of war escalates, the lines between war and theater, and between performance and reality, are blurred.

The Final Cut. ( watch trailer)thursday . feb 22 . 8pm . free . bldg 54-100 .
http://www.finalcutfilm.com
A Zoë Chip is placed in your brain at birth to record your entire life. When you die, the footage from your life is edited into a “Rememory”– a film shown at your funeral pieced together by an editor. A toy for the privileged, Zoë Chips are changing the face of human interaction, but there are those who are against this emerging technology, and believe that memories are meant to fade. Alan Hackman (Robin Williams) is the best “cutter” in the business. His ability to grant the corrupt absolution of the sins of his clients has put him in high demand. However, his talent for viewing life without emotion has shaped him into a cold distant man and has made him unable to experience life in the first person. He believes he is a “sin eater” and his work provides him with the ability to absolve the dead of their sins. While cutting a Rememory for a high-powered colleague, Alan discovers an image from his childhood that has haunted him his entire life. This discovery leads him on a high intensity search for truth and redemption.