Mahmoud Kaabour took an eight-year break before making this new short film about a family after the August Beirut port explosion. Courtesy Paulina Westerland
Mahmoud Kaabour took an eight-year break before making this new short film about a family after the August Beirut port explosion. Courtesy Paulina Westerland
Mahmoud Kaabour took an eight-year break before making this new short film about a family after the August Beirut port explosion. Courtesy Paulina Westerland
Mahmoud Kaabour took an eight-year break before making this new short film about a family after the August Beirut port explosion. Courtesy Paulina Westerland

Mahmoud Kaabour on his new documentary about Beirut blast: 'I needed to grieve behind the camera'


Kaleem Aftab
  • English
  • Arabic

The world premiere of short film My Family and the Explosion on Dutch TV channel Humanistische Omroep, or Human, today, will signal Mahmoud Kaabour's return, after an eight-year hiatus.

For several years in the early 2010s, the Lebanese director, 42, who first emerged in the industry with 2004's Being Osama, about men in Canada bearing the name, was one of the leading lights of the film scene in the UAE, making documentaries under the umbrella of his Dubai production company Veritas Films.

All I could do was head back to Lebanon and see for myself

His second film, Teta, Alf Marra (Grandma, A Thousand Times), a 51-minute poetic tribute to his larger-than-life Lebanese grandmother, won the Audience Award for Best Director at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival in 2010. Then came Champ of the Camp, about a Bollywood singing competition in the communities of South Asian construction workers in the UAE, which had a spectacular premiere at the 10th Dubai International Film Festival in 2013, in a historic outdoor screening at Burj Khalifa.

Now Kaabour is back with My Family and the Explosion, which tells the story of how members of one family were affected by the blast at Beirut Port on August 4 last year, when one of the biggestnon-nuclear explosions in history devastated large parts of the Lebanese capital. It follows resident Nicole Torbey, her husband and their daughter, as they attempt to put their lives back in order in the months after the catastrophe.

Nicole Torbey in a scene from 'My Family and the Explosion'. Courtesy Mahmoud Kaabour
Nicole Torbey in a scene from 'My Family and the Explosion'. Courtesy Mahmoud Kaabour

"When the explosion happened in Lebanon, I was sitting in a playground in Berlin with my kids; I could not believe what I saw on YouTube," Kaabour tells The National. "All I could do was head back to Lebanon and see for myself. Even though I left Lebanon as a child, I knew the country. I have shopped in its markets and taken very long walks between my grandparents' and parents' houses. It's the city that inspired Grandma, A Thousand Times. So I really needed to go back and do my grieving behind the camera."

Once there, he called on a crew of friends to start filming the city in its now-shattered form. It was difficult for the filmmakers to see their beloved city this way, but they were driven by a need to document what had happened, and show the world what was happening. At first it took the form of television journalism. “We did several reports that ended up on news media around the world. I’m not a journalist, but we didn’t mind that; we wanted to keep Lebanon in the news.”

On one of the filming days, Kaabour was speaking to doctors and nurses at LAU Medical Centre-Rizk Hospital when the medical facility's administrator introduced him to Torbey, who was looking after her husband after he had been injured in the blast.

A scene from 'My Family and the Explosion', which tells the story of Nicole Torbey and her injured husband. Courtesy Mahmoud Kaabour
A scene from 'My Family and the Explosion', which tells the story of Nicole Torbey and her injured husband. Courtesy Mahmoud Kaabour

“The first shock we had to absorb was the state of her husband,” Kaabour recalls. “I remember my cameraman couldn’t even come close to him. Nicole was quite prepared to speak. She started painting a big story of how the explosion happened literally 400 metres away from their home. Their house door was flung off its hinges and landed on her husband’s head.”

Kaabour knew instantly he wanted to tell Nicole’s story. And just like that, he was back in the director’s chair. “It’s the type of filmmaking that’s hardly planned,” he says. “You’re getting the story as you’re filming it.”

Disconcertingly, the 13-minute documentary also depicts how it doesn’t take long for people to try and use a situation for personal gain. “I tapped into this phenomenon of disaster capitalism that was happening in Lebanon,” says Kaabour. “Interested parties were going out and trying to buy destroyed homes from people; some of the interested parties are related directly to politicians who sit in the Lebanese cabinet and parliament. Nicole received four calls in one day about her written-off car, and she could not explain how people got her number.”

His passion for filmmaking is undeniable. So why did it take so long for him to make another film? "The fact is, I burnt out," he says. "Running a boutique documentary company out of the UAE was quite taxing. I did these two films with disparate success, but they took so much energy from the family. I needed a break."

The August Beirut port explosion caused untold damage to the Lebanon capital. Courtesy Mahmoud Kaabour
The August Beirut port explosion caused untold damage to the Lebanon capital. Courtesy Mahmoud Kaabour

He says he "fell into the trap" of projecting a successful image of himself, rather than being honest about how hard it is to make documentaries. "As a family, we struggled a lot. I won the $100,000 cash prize from Robert De Niro [who co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival] in Doha for Grandma, A Thousand Times, and I would say I spent more than half of it on renting an office for a film-production company in Dubai."

Sensing that making independent films in the UAE would only get harder, especially after the cancellation of the Abu Dhabi and Dubai international film festivals, Kaabour and his family decided to shut down his company and move to Europe. "I think Berlin was a rite of passage that I needed. Six years in Europe passed relatively quickly, setting up in a new continent with a kid and learning a language."

It was also a time of change in his personal life. He went through a divorce and worked on creating an online documentary channel for ZDF in Berlin. He struggled with the idea of directing again. "I worked with coaches and therapists, reflecting on the parts of filmmaking I was struggling with so much. At the end of the exercise, I came out still embracing my dream to be a filmmaker. I needed time off to have a big life experience and come back and try again."

And this time he will do it differently, he says. Now, he’s set up a new base in Dubai, while keeping a foot in Europe, registering as a freelance film director in Germany and as an agent in London. “I have missed the Middle East so much,” he says. “The vibrancy, the warmth of the people.”

He is also working on a project called Handala, The Boy Without a Face. "Handala is an illustrated image of a Palestinian refugee child. He always has his back to us; we hardly ever see his face. His creator, Naji Al Ali, used Handala to criticise an array of human rights violations against Palestinians and Arabs."

Mahmoud Kaabour has set up a new base in Dubai, registering as a freelance film director in Germany and an agent in London. Courtesy Paulina Westerland
Mahmoud Kaabour has set up a new base in Dubai, registering as a freelance film director in Germany and an agent in London. Courtesy Paulina Westerland

Al Ali was gunned down in London in August 1987, but Handala continues to appear on walls across the world. Kaabour has spent the past three years capturing the image wherever it has cropped up.

It's a hugely ambitious multimedia project, one he says will be another few years before completion. "It includes an augmented reality and animation component," he explains.

“It’s a film that’s going to play a lot on the theme of being 10 years old. My parents had to flee Lebanon, and we took refuge in Syria during the Lebanese Civil War. My mother used to say to me at that age: ‘You have to be strong like Handala.’ Somehow, I felt that our destinies were intertwined.”

For now, Kaabour is working to make sure My Family and the Explosion is available in the Middle East later this year.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20Profile
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Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.

Awar Qalb

Director: Jamal Salem

Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman

Two stars

The Bio

Name: Lynn Davison

Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi

Children: She has one son, Casey, 28

Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Author: CJ Sansom

Favourite holiday destination: Bali

Favourite food: A Sunday roast

SERIES SCHEDULE

First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6

Brief scoreline

Switzerland 0

England 0

Result: England win 6-5 on penalties

Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)

Ain Dubai in numbers

126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure

1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch

16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.

9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.

5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place

192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.

Where to donate in the UAE

The Emirates Charity Portal

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

EXPATS
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ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Fringe@Four Line-up

October 1 - Phil Nichol (stand-up comedy)

October 29 - Mandy Knight (stand-up comedy)

November 5 - Sinatra Raw (Fringe theatre)

November 8 - Imah Dumagay & Sundeep Fernandes (stand-up comedy)

November 13 - Gordon Southern (stand-up comedy)

November 22 - In Loyal Company (Fringe theatre)

November 29 - Peter Searles (comedy / theatre)

December 5 - Sinatra’s Christmas Under The Stars (music / dinner show)

Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O’Reilly

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Results

2.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m

Winner Lamia, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.

3pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m

Winner Jap Al Afreet, Elione Chaves, Irfan Ellahi.

3.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m

Winner MH Tawag, Bernardo Pinheiro, Elise Jeanne.

4pm Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 2,000m

Winner Skygazer, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.

4.30pm The Ruler of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh250,000 1,700m

Winner AF Kal Noor, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.

5pm Sharjah Marathon (PA) Dh70,000 2,700m

Winner RB Grynade, Bernardo Pinheiro, Eric Lemartinel.

The Greatest Royal Rumble card

50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias

Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe

United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos

Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt

Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev

Singles match John Cena v Triple H

Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto

Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk

“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”

“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”

“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”

“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FA Cup fifth round draw

Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City
Reading/Cardiff City v Sheffield United
Chelsea v Shrewsbury Town/Liverpool
West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United/Oxford United
Leicester City v Coventry City/Birmingham City
Northampton Town/Derby County v Manchester United
Southampton/Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City
Portsmouth v Arsenal 

Jawan
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