A filmmaker and producer who opened Lebanon’s first postproduction company, Elias established the Tripoli film festival in 2014 in what is a conservative city. Somehow, he has managed to keep his festival running online, no small achievement given the double whammy of both COVID and the economic turmoil facing Lebanon, which has suffered through constant currency devaluations and fuel and electricity shortages. In 2018, Elias also co-founded the Jounieh International Film Festival, in a bid to revive the film scene in this coastal resort city north of Beirut that was once active in movie production. But that one appears to be dormant right now.