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A temporary respite? TV set transforms Beirut neighborhood into downtown Alexandria


A temporary respite? TV set transforms Beirut neighborhood into downtown Alexandria

A coffee shop owned by one Hamido al-Nabar occupies the space where a plumber’s workshop stood. (Credit: Richard Salame/L'Orient Today)

Near St. George Hospital, in the Ashrafieh neighborhood of Rmeil, sits Alexandria, Egypt. Temporarily, at least.

Over the past two weeks, a TV production crew has transformed the intersection — once lively according to longtime residents, but lately eerily quiet amid the pitch-black darkness that covers most of nighttime Lebanon — into Egypt’s legendary second city.

The crew is filming a 10-episode Egyptian comedy provisionally titled Seeb w ana seeb (Leave and I’ll leave), directed by Wael Ihsan and starring Egyptian actors Hana al-Zahid and Ahmed al-Saadani. Parts of the show were also filmed in Egypt.

But for other scenes, the crew headed to Beirut, amid Lebanon’s spiraling economic crisis and electricity shortages that have seen workers on set rely upon a generator set up in a vacant lot.

Since before filming began the workers have been present throughout the days and well into the nights covering existing businesses in this predominantly Christian neighborhood in Beirut with new signage featuring Egyptian names and phone numbers and painting the walls with murals of the Mediterranean sea, Islamic pieties (Athkzur Allah, “Remember God”), and patriotic graffiti (Tahya Masr, “Long live Egypt”).

A street cart selling simit bread in front of flyers put up for the show. The mural reads “May God accept your pilgrimage and forgive your sins.” (Credit: Richard Salame/L'Orient Today)

Some street furniture that would be out of place in Egypt, like a one-meter-tall statue of Lebanon’s Saint Charbel, were temporarily hidden behind wooden boxes, which doesn’t seem to have offended anyone since the statue remained in place.

The neighborhood plumber’s storefront workshop has become an Egyptian coffeehouse, stocked with real coffee, tea and argileh, or shisha, as it’s known in Egypt. An abandoned storefront has become a women’s hair salon. Banners hang across the streets cheering on the local football team.

Dozens of apartments now have signs hanging from their windows advertising the services of nonexistent Egyptian lawyers, doctors, notaries, and cellphone salesmen. A 200-meter stretch of Khazinein street has become an Alexandrian souk featuring vegetable sellers, fishmongers, foul (bean) sellers, DVDs, and clay pottery. A street cart selling Egyptian kebdeh — cooked liver — and reminding you to “Pray upon the Prophet” appears fully-functional, and one resident says he ate from it. He thought the Egyptian food was too spicy.

The neighbors seem mostly happy to have been living in coastal Egypt for the past few weeks, despite not truly being transported out of Lebanon and its economic crisis.

“I’m in Egypt and this is my shop,” jokes Saleem Harb, pointing to a fake carpet repair shop labeled al-Sultan in painted Arabic letters. In reality, Harb is a tailor who goes by the nickname “al-Sultan” and this is his workshop, which formerly had no sign or name. He says his is the only shop on the filming set which took the owner’s real name, and he’ll keep the sign after production ends.

He can’t work while they’re filming, but said he was promised a payment to compensate him for the lost income. The amount and timing of the money, however, was not communicated to him. The shooting will most likely take around 10 days.

The hustle and bustle has brought a sense of energy to the otherwise quiet neighborhood — as well as a bit of extra street lighting Lebanon’s government hasn’t been able to provide.

“They created this atmosphere. If you watch the series, it will be like you’re in Alexandria,” Harb says approvingly.

Aladdin stationary store and a banner reading “Al-Ittihad are masters of the city,” one of the team’s traditional nicknames. (Credit: Richard Salame/L'Orient Today)

But besides the architectural similarities between the neighborhood and Egypt, he suspects the main reason they chose to film in Beirut was because the currency crisis has made labor much cheaper than in Egypt. Members of the production crew didn’t agree to comment.

“There was no movement” in the area before, says one resident, who runs a local convenience store that has temporarily become Super Market al-Barakeh. She asked that her name not be used, citing privacy concerns. “They’ve created some movement in the area, giving people something to do. People who used to stay in their houses are coming out now.”

The dozens of people working on the production for long hours each day are also an added customer base for water bottles, cigarettes, and snacks from her shop, which has remained open.

The fictional al-Barakeh specializes in ice cream, according to the pictures of ice cream cones and a “gelato” sign painted on its walls. A few display freezers also sit outside. In real-world Lebanon, however, the shop doesn’t have consistent enough electricity to keep ice cream frozen, so it doesn’t sell any.

For homes and businesses, there’s no more electricity than there was before but the street itself is lit up at night now for the benefit of the production, and the people who live there aren’t complaining.

Pierre, a neighborhood resident who also works for the production company that scouted the location, said the new streetlights that were installed will remain behind as a benefit for the area. Currently, they are hooked up to a generator, but they will be connected to solar power, later on, he said.

He said Ashrafieh is often chosen for these sorts of projects because the buildings are similar in style to those in Egypt. He is happy that the scout team ended up settling on his own neighborhood but also feels “guilt” over the way that the nighttime filming might keep some people up. He noted that before the company decided to work in the neighborhood the entire area was canvassed to get people’s buy-in to the idea.An ‘Alexandria’ street scene with a banner reading “Support your home team”

An ‘Alexandria’ street scene with a banner reading “Support your country's team.” (Credit: Richard Salame/L'Orient Today)

There are some negatives, the convenience store owner said. There’s temporarily no street parking in the area and not everyone in the neighborhood relishes the smell of the TV show’s fishmonger — who has been equipped with real fish — or the kebdeh cart, stocked with real liver sandwiches and ketchup bottles. Doing this “amidst all the houses is a negative, for sure. You know it’s hot outside and people are already feeling depressed,” she said

“The atmosphere is nice but they’re annoying people in one respect,” Harb agreed, citing the fish smell. He has also had trouble sleeping since his workshop, which is also his home, faces the street and shooting takes place in front of it until around 2 a.m.

After the shooting ends, the production company will revert the neighborhood to its former Beirut self, residents say, including painting over the murals and slogans.

The generator will also leave, they say. It isn’t clear when the street lights will afterward be connected to solar power as apparently promised.

The people who own the properties will have the choice to keep the Alexandrian decorations if they so desire, and some may do so. Harb, for instance, will be keeping his new sign.

Charbel, a barber, had his shop renamed for the show, and a vinyl graphic of a bearded man’s face installed on the window. He says he likes the graphic, although the phone number at the bottom is Egyptian. Charbel says he’ll likely cut off the store name from the top of the graphic and the phone number from the bottom. But for now, he thinks he’ll keep the face.

A worker paints the logo of Al-Ittihad, Alexandria’s football team, on a wall next to script reading “Alexandrians are the essence of chivalry.” (Credit: Richard Salame/L'Orient Today)

Near St. George Hospital, in the Ashrafieh neighborhood of Rmeil, sits Alexandria, Egypt. Temporarily, at least.Over the past two weeks, a TV production crew has transformed the intersection — once lively according to longtime residents, but lately eerily quiet amid the pitch-black darkness that covers most of nighttime Lebanon — into Egypt’s legendary second city.The crew is filming a...