Metropolis Cinema Chief Hania Mroue on Opening a Festival in Beirut Amid Israeli Air Strikes: ‘Not Only Are We Surviving the War,’ but We’re Creating ‘Something That Has Meaning’

May 28, 2026 8:06am PT Metropolis Cinema Chief Hania Mroue on Opening a Festival in Beirut Amid Israeli Air Strikes: ‘Not Only Are We Surviving the War,’ but We’re Creating ‘Something That Has Meaning’

By Nick Vivarelli

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Nick Vivarelli

International Correspondent

@NickVivarelli

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Hania Mroue, founder and director of Beirut’s beloved Metropolis Cinema — Lebanon‘s only arthouse movie theater — is planning to host the second edition of the South Screens (Écrans du Sud) Film Festival on Thursday evening, just as Israel is stepping up air strikes in Lebanon.

Mroue is forging head despite an airstrike Thursday afternoon on the suburb of Choueifat, close to Beirut’s international airport, the first attack close to the Lebanese capital since May 6.

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