The Tornado الاعصار

While away studying art in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, Lebanese student Akram (Ara Manoukian) is distressed by news footage showing the aftermath of a car bomb on a crowded Beirut highway during the civil war. Out of concern for his loved ones, he catches the next plane home. As he attempts to reach his family’s village, he witnesses people being mercilessly shot in the streets in broad daylight. After initially criticizing the war, Akram is slowly drawn into the storm of violence around him, ultimately crossing the line and becoming an active participant in the conflict.

Rich with its barrage of haunting existential imagery, Samir Habchi’s feature film debut dances between fact and fiction while vividly illustrating the difficulty of remaining neutral in a vicious and all-consuming civil war. Although the Lebanese government supported Hachi’s filming of the |Tornado at actual war-torn Beirut locations, they banned the film soon after its initial release due its anti-religious imagery. This release marks the first time this remarkable film has been available on DVD.