Lebanese film Under The Concrete will have its Arab world premiere at the 42nd Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) (December 2 -12), within the Horizons of Arab Cinema competition. The film screening will be held with the presence of its director Roy Arida and its star Alain Najm with English and Arabic subtitles. Under the Concrete is slated to be released in Arab theaters soon.

In the light of Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s Cairo International Film Festival has whittled down its selection of films to 84 films from across 43 countries, which makes it only half the number it regularly features every year. The screenings will take place at Cairo Opera House and Zmalek Cinema.

Set in Beirut, Lebanon, the film follows a series of car bombs that explode across the country, where Alain, a 32-year-old man, decides to turn his back on this deleterious situation to attempt to break the world record of deep diving.

Under The Concrete participated in a number of international festivals, including Festival International du Film de La Roche-sur-Yon in France and Warsaw International Film Festival. It is also slated to participate in the next edition of Hainan International Film Festival in December.

Written and directed by Roy Arida and produced by Stank, the film stars Alain Najm, Nathalie Japiot, Toufic Khreich, Ralph Choueiri, Elie Lteif, Rony Khoueiry and Roland Najm. The film is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions, while Indie Sales handles its distribution outside the Arab region.