On Location: Tracking Secret Agents and Films, between Bombay and Beirut

By focusing on Bombay commercial productions shot on location in Beirut, I consider why Lebanon became a prominent destination for foreign film productions between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s. The ensuing films' narratives were motivated not only by the Lebanese capital's prominence in globally popular spy-action genres, but also by material histories of contraband circuits (including the circulation of films) and cash flows of foreign exchange. I highlight the wider convergence of several industries on location in Beirut in order to expand histories of both postwar location shooting and spy-action genres, and to foreground routes of South-South media production, subtitling, and distribution.