The Insult

Set in contemporary Beirut, Ziad Doueiri’s follow-up to The Attack is a resonant and compelling look at the tensions in Lebanese society. Recently nominated for an Academy Award (for best foreign language film), it’s sure to be one of the winter’s most-discussed pictures.

When an insult gets blown out of proportion, a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee find themselves facing off in court. The media circus that breaks out around the case threatens to ignite a social explosion in their divided country, forcing the trial’s participants to reconsider their lives and social prejudices. (112 mins., DCP)