Under the Bombs

Zeina is a Lebanese woman in the middle of a divorce. In order to spare her son, Karim, she sends him to stay with her sister in a little village in the south of Lebanon. One week later, the war breaks out in Lebanon. Terribly worried, she wants to follow him but only one taxi-driver, Toni, agrees to take her. Setting off in the car, Zeina and Toni are far from sharing the same political views but they drive south together, into a landscape once again devastated by bombs. Most of the bridges have been bombed and the taxi is forced to take back roads. When they finally reach the house of Zeina’s sister, they realize they are too late: it has been hit, and only a pile of rubble remains. Zeina’s sister is dead. Ali, a kid from the village, comes forward to tell them that her son Karim is ok. But when Toni and Zeina finally arrive, exhausted, they realise that Ali, the kid from Kherbet Selem, has made a terrible mistake: he has confused Karim with another boy, Tarek. His face devastated with sorrow, Toni watches as Zeina desperately hugs the child to her as if he were her son, her own flesh and blood.