About REEF

The “Rural Encounters on Environment and Film - REEF” is the first of its kind event in Lebanon and the Arab world that is dedicated to rural life and its representation.

This event takes place in the beautiful town of Kobayat which is located in Akkar - north of Lebanon. This town, known to be one of the most rural areas in Lebanon, is famous for being a multi-confessional and multi-ethnic region and home for 400,000 people, and yet remains until this day without any available movie theatre or cinema activity. Akkar also lacks cultural dynamics which represents a major asset for the development of the region.

Through film screenings, production of short videos, debates, and discovery of the environmental resources and cultural heritage of Akkar, REEF highlights the diversity of this region and its rural culture all while using arts and cinema.

REEF is organized by the Council of Environment in partnership with the cultural association Beirut DC. Both partners strive for inclusion, access to culture and cinema as tools for communication and dialog, and as a driver for social and environmental change.

In September 2018, REEF saw the light. The pilot edition was promisingly successful, which encouraged the organizers to carry out this event for years to come. 

In 2019, REEF festival was at the origin of a small economic boom in Kobayat, in addition to having spread a beautiful image of the region where advocating for nature echoed cinematographic creation and preservation. This project targets the population of Kobayat, as well as the neighboring villages covering all of Akkar, with no less than 200,000 people interested. No project in all Akkar touches equally on different aspects of culture, cinema, environment, heritage and rurality. 

We endeavored to overcome the challenges of REEF 2020 and launched a hybrid format for the festival, online and physical, while exploring urgent issues from our actuality, including COVID-19, nature’s generosity in times of economic crisis, and the fight to save the Bisri Valley against the construction of a controversial dam.