In a first attempt of its genre in Lebanon, the Metropolis Association presents, in partnership with the Samandal Magazine and in collaboration with the cultural association Beirut DC, Beirut Animated , an animation film festival from the 16 th to the 20th of November 2009.

«Sita Sings the Blues», debut film of the young Nina Paley, will open the first edition of Beirut Animated. In order to pen a modern break-up, the filmmaker uses the Hindu mythology as well as the bluesy voice of A nnette Hanshow, in animation style. The result is a humoristic concoction that paved the way for Paley to win several awards including the Crystal for the Best Feature Film at the Annecy Animation Film Festival in 2008.

Another long awaited premiere in Beirut is «Ponyo», the latest film of Japanese animation master Haya o Miyazaki who is still enthralling both younger and older generations after «My Neighbor Totoro» (1988), «Princess Mononoke» (1997) and «Spirited Away» (2001), Golden Bear at the 2001 Berlin International Film. «Ponyo» will be presented in a special screening for children that will precede its theatrical Lebanese release in December.

The animation in the Arab World will also be on the festival''s line-up. In addition to several Arab shorts unscreened yet in Lebanon as well as Lebanese shorts to be discovered during this first edition, the public will have the opportunity to discover one of the first Arab animation features, «Thread of Life», a Syrian film for children by Razam Hijazi (2006).

Parallel activities will be held during the festival including a section of Lebanese video clips shot in animation style, a ''carte blanche'' for artist Lena Merhej , a presentation on TV series which were dubbed in Arabic, as well as a conference on new animation techniques held by Serbian animation Milos Tomic.

For the festival''s closing ceremony, experimental Lebanese rock group XEFM will perform a soundtrack to accompany the screening of the first European animation film, «The Adventures of Prince Achmed» (1926).

Full Program:
• Monday, November 16 @ 8:00 PM – Opening
Sita Sings the Blues (by Nina Paley, USA, 2008, 82'', In English with no subtitles)

• Tuesday, November 17 @ 8:00 PM
Presentation of Japanese Anime classic series dubbed into Arabic (Grendizer, Al Rajul al Hadidi, Jazirat al Kanz and Adnan wa Lina) curated by Samandal Magazine.

• Tuesday, November 17 @ 10:00 PM
VJing Program (10'')
Shorts Program 1 (89'')
Shorts Program 1: L''Ambouba (by Nadia Raïs, Tunisia, 9''), Lucia (by Niles Atallah, Joaquin Cocina, Cristobal Leon, Chile, 4''), Luis (by Niles Atallah, Joaquin Cocina, Cristobal Leon, Chile, 4''), Ahawa (by Chadi Aoun, Lebanon, 5''), The Soliloquist (by Ma Kuang Bei, Taiwan, 4''), Durrafourd Mon Amour (AUB Department of Architecture and Design, Lebanon, 16''), Shefto Men Beid (by Ely Dagher, Lebanon, 4''), Muto (by Blue, Australia/Italy, 8''), The Star (by Tarik El Khateeb, Jordan, 4''), Day of a Shoe (by Ahmad El Ashwah, Egypt, 10''), Beirut (by Ely Dagher, Lebanon, 5''), Walking Distance (by Shirin Abu Shaqra, Lebanon,12'')

• Wednesday, November 18 @ 8:00 PM
Mary and Max (by Adam Eliot, Australia, 92'', 2009, in English with no subtitles)

• Wednesday, November 18 @ 10:00 PM
VJing Program (10'')
Shorts Program 2 (96'')
Shorts Program 2: Dying of the Light (by Amer Shomali, Palestine, 6''), Germania Wurst (by Volker Schlecht, Germany, 11''), Seeds of Hope (by Marwa Boukarim, Sarah Chehab, Dana Halaby and Leen Saddar, Lebanon, 3''), The Daily Life of Robots (by Raoui Abdelghani, Algeria/Tunisia, 13''), Zeid and Leila (Jad Sarrout, Lebanon, 8''), Madame Tutli Putli (by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szscerbowski, Canada, 17''), Hybrid (by Marilyn Farah, Lebanon, 5''), Ergo (by Géza M. Toth, Hungary, 12''), Takhabbot (by Ghassan Halwany, Lebanon, 4''), A Journey to Eternity (by Saber Shouli and Aziz Oumoussa, Morocco, 17'')

• Thursday, November 19 @ 6:00 PM – Children Screening
Ponyo (by Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 2009, in English with French and Arabic subtitles)

• Thursday, November 19 @ 8:00 PM
Mind Game (by Masaaki Yuasa, Japan, 2003, in Japanese with English subtitles)

• Thursday, November 19 @ 10:00 PM
Carte Blanche Lena Merhej (12'')
Shorts Program 3 (90'')
Shorts Program 3: Crooked (by Tali Gal-on, Australia, 3''), Yours Truly (Osbert Parker, UK, 8''), Deir el Salib (by Samar Mogharbel, Lebanon, 3''), Harmony (by Alemo Damina, Ethiopia, 5''), Washing Machine Flipbook (AUB Department of Architecture and Design, Lebanon, 3''), La Vita Nuova (by Arnaud Demuynck and Christophe Gautry, France/Belgium/12''), Al Rassif (by Youssef Abed Rabbo, Liliane Abou Zeki, Rana Kotob and Ruba Sidani, Lebanon 2''), Skhizein (by Jeremy Clapin, France, 14''), Weiss (by Florian Grolig, Germany, 5''), Bunch of Kids (by Tania Saleh, Lebanon, 3''), The Child King (by Mohamed Houssine Grayaâ, Tunisia, 30'')

• Friday, November 20 @ 6:00 PM – Children Screening
Thread of Life (by Razam Hijazi, Syria, 80'', in Arabic with English subtitles)

• Friday, November 20 @ 8:30 PM – Closing
Cine-concert The Adventures of Prince Achmed by XEFM (kindly check the separate event posted on the Metropolis Cinema Group)

Information:
The selection is available on the website: www.metropoliscinema.net
Place: Metropolis Empire Sofil, Achrafieh
Date: 16 – 20 November 2009
Contact : 03 79 30 65 / info@metropoliscinema.net
Ticket Price: 5,000 L.L.
Ciné-concert Price: 25,000 L.L. and 45,000 L.L.