Where Do We Go Now?

Livestock let loose in the mosque and chicken blood filling the holy water font. Such provocative acts create tension in a small Lebanese village surrounded by old landmines. The villagers, Christians and Muslims who have co-existed for hundreds of years, now suffer from the added strain of isolation. When inter-religious tensions threaten to split the community, the local women take action. Putting their heads together, they come up with a series of odd remedies, aiming to avoid conflict at any cost. They stage miracles and hire Ukrainian show girls to create a better atmosphere among the community.

When a young man is killed, his mother hides her sorrows and claims he is merely confined to his bed with mumps. The women conspire to prevent the men from resorting to violence when the truth eventually comes out. Despite the quirky comic dimension, the film’s theme is dead serious. Ethnic and religious conflicts continue until this day in Lebanon and the Arab world, despite the impressive unity displayed during the revolutions of 2011. As these tensions surface, director Nadine Labaki asks her very timely question which resonates all the way to the unimaginable incidents our own little country has been through the last months: Where do we go now? kej