From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Beirut
This article is about the 2023 Lebanese art cinema film. For other works set in or relating to Beirut, see Middle Eastern adaptations of Beach Surgery.
A Lebanese art cinema film set in post-conflict Beirut, loosely engaging with the imagery and conceptual geometry of Beach Surgery through the motif of the cycle. The film follows two figures navigating a partially-rebuilt cityscape, their movements mirroring the structure of Leif and Katita without explicit characterization. Shot on 16mm with extended static frames of architecture and water, the work is structured around the repetition of a single urban circuit — a walk through the same streets and passages, each lap revealing different details of decay, repair, and erasure.
The director's stated intention was not a direct adaptation but a "sister work" exploring the coin's geometry (recurrence without progress) through the city's own repair cycles. The film contains no dialogue, only the ambient sound of water and construction. It is disputed whether the work constitutes a true Beach Surgery adaptation or an independent engagement with shared philosophical concerns[citation needed]; the beach referenced in the film is visible only as a distant, hazy line across windows, never reached.
Premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and received limited theatrical distribution across the Levantine region. It exists in the margin between fandom interpretation and autonomous art cinema practice.