August 2026 Recommendations
Happy August! My favorite month of the year. This month, I will admit that there are a lot of films I haven’t seen before! But both the Cheers Cinema screening of Aisha Can’t Fly Away on August 6th and all the films in MoMA’s Immigrant Nation: People in Transit program look fascinating so consider checking out those, regardless of my recommendation. In particular, Cheers Cinema is always a very fun event since the movie(s) are paired with delicious custom drinks created by Bassel Shihab.
But for films I do know a thing or two about, this is what I would recommend seeing in the cinema this month!
Film sill from The Razor’s Edge (courtesy of Several Futures)
The Razor's Edge (1985) dir. Jocelyne Saab - Lebanon
This recently restored film, the fiction feature debut from renown Lebanese filmmaker Jocelyne Saab, is set amid the Lebanese Civil War and tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a teenage girl who is growing up within this war-torn city and a middle aged painter.
This film is a beautifully shot, often dreamy depiction of life amidst war and the way art can be a lifeline. For me, it is always fascinating to see parts of Beirut that I’m familiar with but in a way I’ve never experienced before. Part of the film was shot in The Rose House, which has fascinated and delighted me since I was a child. Once the site of many artistic salons and parties, I love seeing the house prior to its current state of disrepair and once again filled with beautiful art. There ae so many reasons to watch this special film but for me, this is the biggest one.
The film has been playing on and off at Metrograph, alongside Saab’s 1982 shorts Lebanese, Hostage of Their City, as part of the program Jocelyne Saab: Letters from Lebanon. You can catch the next (and possibly final) screening on August 10th.
Memories Lost (2020) - photogragh by Ayla Hibri, as featured in Do You Love Me (Courtesy of Lana Daher)
Do You Love Me (2026) dir. Lana Daher - Lebanon
A playful and personal journey through Lebanon’s audiovisual memory, composed entirely of archival footage. It is a love letter to Beirut, spanning 70 years of film, TV, home videos, and photography, exploring the Lebanese collective psyche – marked by joy and intimacy, destruction and loss. Through the eyes of citizens, filmmakers and artists, the film reconstructs a fragmented history in a country without a national archive, celebrating creative expression as both resistance, renewal and a way to preserve memory.
I am personally a big fan of films that play with the form of narrative. This lightly structured film takes on you on a journey through years of Lebanese history, with a predominant focus on Beirut, using only images, video and film clips. For those familiar with the country and it’s media, it can be a delightful hour of “I Spy” while you also sit in the history - both sad and joyous, both beautiful and ugly. And even if you’re not familiar, there is so much to explore and learn, even without much context, from these documents that remain. It’s a very special experience.
While the film has already done it’s main theatrical run, you can catch it this month on August 13 at Metrograph (or next month on September 30 at Cobble Hill Cinemas at a screening hosted by Friendly Strangers Studios!)
Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo (Courtesy of Film Clinic)
Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo (2024) dir. Khaled Mansour - Egypt
When his dog Mr. Rambo attacks his landlord in self-defense, Hassan scrambles to evade vengeful retribution targeted at his loyal canine. Traversing Cairo in search of a safe haven, Hassan faces the trials and tribulations of a restless city and confronts truths about himself in this directorial debut.
One of the best films I’ve seen out of Egypt in recent years. With a deeply relatable premise and a five star acting job from the cutest dog, what else is there to say? Come ready for an exciting road movie and a roller coaster of emotions.
This film does not have U.S. distribution and has not had a theatrical release here, despite it’s selection in the Venice Film Festival, so the opportunity to see it on the big screen is a rare one. The only other way to currently view it is by renting it from the Letterboxd Video Store.
This film is screening on August 29 & 31 at the BAM Rose Cinemas as part of the Kino Canines series.
