Phantom Beirut is set in Lebanon at the end of the 1980s, as Khalil returns home after ten years of absence. A decade earlier, during the civil war, Khalil used the cover of chaos and fire during a battle to fake his death and acquire a new identity. Full of ghosts and memories, and deftly utilising documentary elements, Ghassan Salhab’s debut feature film is a haunting exploration of the official silences and collective amnesias that stalk the lives of those who live through conflict.
