Director: Mira Shaib
A stolen scooter sends a determined mother and her reluctant teenage son across Beirut in "Arze," a 2024 Lebanese-Saudi comedy-drama directed by Mira Shaib.
What is Arze about?
Arze runs a small home business out of her Beirut apartment, and the scooter she relies on to deliver her manakish is the only thing standing between her family and real trouble. When it disappears from right outside her door, she refuses to let it go. Her son Kinan, more interested in his phone and his friends than in his mother's errands, gets pulled along on the search whether he likes it or not. What starts as a straightforward chase through the city's neighborhoods turns into something bigger, as mother and son cross paths with shopkeepers, mechanics, and neighbors from every corner of Beirut's fractured social map. Along the way, Arze finally tells Kinan a secret about their family that she has been putting off for years, one that reshapes how he sees both of his parents. Shaib balances comic set pieces with a genuine, unhurried look at how a single missing object can expose a city's fault lines and a family's unspoken history.
Cast & crew
Diamand Abou Abboud carries the film as Arze, giving the character a stubborn warmth that keeps the comedy grounded. Betty Taoutel, Bilal Al Hamwi, and Fouad Yammine round out a supporting cast of Beirut locals, each adding a distinct flavor to the neighborhoods Arze passes through.
Context & significance
"Arze" comes from Lebanese director Mira Shaib and was produced with Lebanese and Saudi backing, part of a wave of recent Lebanese cinema that uses everyday, small-scale stories to comment on the country's larger social divisions. Beirut itself functions almost as a character, its sectarian geography mapped out through the people Arze meets on her search.
Where & how to watch
"Arze" is available to watch on K-Time with a free account login; no purchase is required to browse the page or read about the film. The K-Time interface is built with a Farsi-first experience for the Iranian diaspora, so browsing, searching, and building a watchlist all work naturally in Persian even while you watch a Lebanese film in its original language.