Taste of Cement

May 24 2018 N/A 1h 25m
Documentary

In Beirut, Syrian construction workers are building a skyscraper while at the same time their own houses at home are being shelled. The Lebanese war is over but the Syrian one still rages on. The workers are locked in the building site. They are not allowed to leave it after 19.00. The Lebanese government has imposed night-time curfews on the refugees. The only contact with the outside world for these Syrian workers is the hole through which they climb out in the morning to begin a new day of work. Cut off from their homeland, they gather at night around a small TV set to get the news from Syria. Tormented by anguish and anxiety, while suffering the deprivation of the most basic human and workers right, they keep hoping for a different life.

Plot

A portrait of workers in exile. An empathetic encounter with people who have lost their past and their future, locked in the recurring present. ZIAD KALTHOUM creates an essay documentary of Syrian construction workers building new skyscrapers in Beirut on the ruins caused by the Lebanese civil war. At the same time their own houses are being bombed in Syria. A Curfew prohibits them from leaving the construction site after work. Every night in their pit below the skyscraper the news from their homeland and the memories of the war chase them. Mute and imprisoned in the cement underground, they must endure until the new day arrives where the hammering and welding drowns out their nightmares.

Written by

Ansgar Frerich, Ziad Kalthoum, Talal Khoury

Directed by

Ziad Kalthoum

Cast

Tia Alkerdi, Yara Ibrahim

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Qatar, Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon, Germany, United Arab Emirates

Languages

Awards

6 wins & 8 nominations

Trailers
Trailer | Taste of Cement | Ziad Kalthoum
Scores
# of Votes
240
Average Rating
7.3 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA