Bosta

The first post-war musical made in Lebanon and a box office record breaker, Bosta tells the story of Kamal as he returns from exile in France, determined to revive his school dance group.This is the first feature film to have gone through a complete Digital Post-production workflow (DI) at the time in the Middle East.

He and his friends are reunited and set out to give a modern flavour to the traditional Lebanese dance (dabke), injecting it with their alternative spirit. But when they audition for the national Anjar Dance Festival they are accused by the conservative judges of damaging Lebanon’s last cultural icon and rejected. Undeterred, they defy the traditionalists by touring Lebanon aboard their old school bus (bosta), performing their new dance in rural villages.
Philippe Aractingi’s road-musical is an enduring pop classic exploring culture clashes, and stars Nadine Labaki (star/director of Where Do We Go Now? and Caramel) in one of her first iconic roles.

Following the premiere on December 1, BOSTA has topped the box office ratings in Lebanon, beating Harry Potter among other international blockbusters. BOSTA (the bus) by director Philippe Aractingi sets the traditional Dabke dance, with its Lebanese rhythms, into a story about a dance troop who put a modern, cosmopolitan techno twist on to this traditional genre. It is also the first Lebanese film to be almost entirely funded by private Lebanese investors. This timely film creatively deals with contemporary Lebanese society and gives a positive outlook to the future, away from the stereotypical image of war and terrorism.