Biography

Philippe Aractingi is an author, director, producer, and photographer. Franco-Lebanese, he was born in Beirut in 1964. To this day, he has directed and occasionally produced more than 50 documentaries and 4 feature films.

In 2004, Aractingi directed the chart-topping musical comedy “Bosta” (2005). Joyful and realistic, this road movie topped all the Box Office charts and paved the road to a new generation of films.

In 2006, the war in Lebanon had erupted again and Aractingi felt compelled to bear witness and started shooting his second film. “Under the Bombs” was filmed with only two actors in the midst of the turmoil, mixing both improvised and scripted scenes. It was selected in 40 festivals including Venice, Sundance, and Dubai, and it won a total of 23 awards around the world.
"Bosta" and "Under the Bombs" were both selected to represent Lebanon at the Oscars in 2006 and 2009.

Later in 2014, Aractingi opted to experiment with a new genre; the autobiography. “Heritages” depicts the sensitive topics of exile, memory, and transmission, in a humorous and emotional way and covers the past 100 years in the history of the Levant region.

For his fourth feature, Aractingi released a fictional movie “Ismaii” or “Listen” (2017) which covers the beauty and difficulty of a modern-day Lebanese love story. The film was prohibited in the Middle-East and rated 18+ in Lebanon for it was considered “too daring” for the Arab world. It was selected to represent Lebanon at the Golden Globes in 2017.

Philippe Aractingi was named Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2018 by the Government of France for his contributions to art and cinema.

FANTASCOPE PRODUCTION

In 1989, Aractingi set up Fantascope, his own production house. Specialized in content production, commercial and non-commercial documentaries, Fantascope has produced and co-produced for various international TV stations such as NDR, BBC, France 2, France 3, and ARTE. In 2000, Fantascope has created a department dedicated to corporate films.

To this date, Fantascope has produced or coproduced Aractingi’s 5 feature films up to date.

Movies: Listen - Bosta - Heritages