Director Ziad Doueiri briefly detained in Lebanon

Filmmaker Ziad Doueiri was briefly detained by authorities in Lebanon on Sunday (10Sep17).
The Lebanon-born director had been in Italy for the screening of his film The Insult at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend, with Palestinian actor Kamel El Basha taking home the Volpi Cup for best male performance for his role in the movie on Saturday.
However, Doueiri’s celebrations didn’t last long as he was held by authorities in Beirut on Sunday evening, before facing a Lebanese military court on Monday and released hours later.
“Charges against Ziad have been dropped by the military court: he is free,” producer Jean Brehat told Variety on Monday.
While the charges Doueiri was facing remain unclear, it is understood they were linked to his 2012 film The Attack, which had some scenes shot in Israel.
Lebanese citizens are banned from visiting Israel, with the two nations officially at war, though a United Nations-monitored ceasefire has largely been observed since 2006.
On Sunday night, French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that Doueiri had been detained by police, and had his French and Lebanese passports confiscated.
“I am profoundly hurt. I came back to Lebanon with a prize from Venice. The Lebanese police have authorised the broadcast of (The Insult). I have no idea who is responsible for what has happened,” he said, reported the news outlet. “We will find out at court who is behind this affair.”
Doueiri has not yet commented since on the incident and it is not yet known if he has had his passports returned.
Splitting his work between Los Angeles and Beirut, the filmmaker first garnered notice for his work under Quentin Tarantino as a camera assistant on movies such as Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.