Encountering the real effects of destruction, the films in this Beirut-focused series complicate the relationship between fact and fiction, using poetry and other forms of intermediality to witness what emerges from ruins. Beirut, a city that has often been the site of sectarian, colonialist and imperialist violence, is a context which produces films that critically engage with images related to moments during, between, and after war and upheaval. At the center of this series is a retrospective of several early films by Jocelyne Saab, who uses documentary form to demonstrate the effects of violence in Lebanon and to challenge dominant western media perceptions and practices of filming and exhibiting war in Beirut. This series coincides with and honors the one year anniversary of the devastating Beirut Port explosion through the celebration of Lebanese filmmaking. The June program encompasses Palestine and the refugee camps and slums on the outskirts of Beirut.
Two short documentaries by Jocelyne Saab shot near the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War and a feature-length documentary by Mai Masri and Jean Chamoun shot toward the end of the war in 1988 will screen this June. Central to these films are the youth of Beirut as they live with and resist imperialist and sectarian forms of violence.
Filmed on the streets of Beirut, War Generation - Beirut is a mesmerizing film that explores the life experiences of young people as they struggle to survive growing up in Lebanon’s capital city, ravaged by thirteen years of war. Featuring interviews with young people as they go about their daily lives, this award-winning documentary traces the nuanced history of Lebanon's Civil War and the ways of life that have emerged from it.
- Year1988
- Runtime50 minutes
- LanguageArabic, English
- CountryLebanon
- DirectorMai Masri, Jean Chamoun
Encountering the real effects of destruction, the films in this Beirut-focused series complicate the relationship between fact and fiction, using poetry and other forms of intermediality to witness what emerges from ruins. Beirut, a city that has often been the site of sectarian, colonialist and imperialist violence, is a context which produces films that critically engage with images related to moments during, between, and after war and upheaval. At the center of this series is a retrospective of several early films by Jocelyne Saab, who uses documentary form to demonstrate the effects of violence in Lebanon and to challenge dominant western media perceptions and practices of filming and exhibiting war in Beirut. This series coincides with and honors the one year anniversary of the devastating Beirut Port explosion through the celebration of Lebanese filmmaking. The June program encompasses Palestine and the refugee camps and slums on the outskirts of Beirut.
Two short documentaries by Jocelyne Saab shot near the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War and a feature-length documentary by Mai Masri and Jean Chamoun shot toward the end of the war in 1988 will screen this June. Central to these films are the youth of Beirut as they live with and resist imperialist and sectarian forms of violence.
Filmed on the streets of Beirut, War Generation - Beirut is a mesmerizing film that explores the life experiences of young people as they struggle to survive growing up in Lebanon’s capital city, ravaged by thirteen years of war. Featuring interviews with young people as they go about their daily lives, this award-winning documentary traces the nuanced history of Lebanon's Civil War and the ways of life that have emerged from it.
- Year1988
- Runtime50 minutes
- LanguageArabic, English
- CountryLebanon
- DirectorMai Masri, Jean Chamoun