This summer’s series presents a retrospective of the collaborative film projects of Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige.Often blending history and fantasy, Hadjithomas and Joreige’s work captures the mood and contradictions of Lebanon in the post-war moment, and both their narrative and documentary work challenge the relationship between fact and fantasy and the writing of history. They use film to untangle representation from its referent, and their work engages the construction of memory from fragments.
In June, July, and August, Mizna will screen a curated selection of Hadjithomas and Joreige’s films, culminating in September with a filmmaker visit and discussion of their latest narrative feature Memory Box, which will open the sixteenth Twin Cities Arab Film Festival at the Walker Art Center.
Twenty four hours in the life of Malek, who lives in Beirut. Malek has both sleep apnea, a syndrome which interrupts his breathing during sleep, and narcolepsy. He lives with his mother, Claudia, who has still not accepted his father’s disappearance 15 years earlier. She stays at home in case her husband returns. Malek drives around the city in search of Zeina, the woman he loves, but who no longer wants to see him. Each of them is trying to live with a void of lost love, but today may be the “perfect day” to lay their ghosts to rest. Malek has convinced his hesitant mother to declare her husband officially dead. And that evening, in a trendy nightclub, Zeina looks ready to give Malek a second shot.
- Year2005
- Runtime88 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountryLebanon
- DirectorJoana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige
- ScreenwriterJoana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige
- ProducerAnne-Cécile Berthomeau, Edouard Mauriat (Mille et une Productions, France)
- Executive ProducerFarès Ladjimi
- Co-ProducerGeorges Schoucair (Abbout Productions, Lebanon), Thanassis Karathanos (Twenty Twenty Vision, Germany)
- CastZiad Saad (Malek), Julia Kassar (Claudia), Alexandra Kahwagi (Zeina), Rabih Mroué, Carole Schoucair, Joseph Nader, Pascale Sekkar, Joseph Sassine
- CinematographerJeanne Lapoirie
- EditorTina Baz Le gal
- Production DesignSophie Khayat
- MusicScrambled Eggs: Charbel Haber, Marc Codsi, Tony Elieh,Said Elieh; Soap Kills: Zeid Hamdan & Yasmine Hamdan
This summer’s series presents a retrospective of the collaborative film projects of Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige.Often blending history and fantasy, Hadjithomas and Joreige’s work captures the mood and contradictions of Lebanon in the post-war moment, and both their narrative and documentary work challenge the relationship between fact and fantasy and the writing of history. They use film to untangle representation from its referent, and their work engages the construction of memory from fragments.
In June, July, and August, Mizna will screen a curated selection of Hadjithomas and Joreige’s films, culminating in September with a filmmaker visit and discussion of their latest narrative feature Memory Box, which will open the sixteenth Twin Cities Arab Film Festival at the Walker Art Center.
Twenty four hours in the life of Malek, who lives in Beirut. Malek has both sleep apnea, a syndrome which interrupts his breathing during sleep, and narcolepsy. He lives with his mother, Claudia, who has still not accepted his father’s disappearance 15 years earlier. She stays at home in case her husband returns. Malek drives around the city in search of Zeina, the woman he loves, but who no longer wants to see him. Each of them is trying to live with a void of lost love, but today may be the “perfect day” to lay their ghosts to rest. Malek has convinced his hesitant mother to declare her husband officially dead. And that evening, in a trendy nightclub, Zeina looks ready to give Malek a second shot.
- Year2005
- Runtime88 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountryLebanon
- DirectorJoana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige
- ScreenwriterJoana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige
- ProducerAnne-Cécile Berthomeau, Edouard Mauriat (Mille et une Productions, France)
- Executive ProducerFarès Ladjimi
- Co-ProducerGeorges Schoucair (Abbout Productions, Lebanon), Thanassis Karathanos (Twenty Twenty Vision, Germany)
- CastZiad Saad (Malek), Julia Kassar (Claudia), Alexandra Kahwagi (Zeina), Rabih Mroué, Carole Schoucair, Joseph Nader, Pascale Sekkar, Joseph Sassine
- CinematographerJeanne Lapoirie
- EditorTina Baz Le gal
- Production DesignSophie Khayat
- MusicScrambled Eggs: Charbel Haber, Marc Codsi, Tony Elieh,Said Elieh; Soap Kills: Zeid Hamdan & Yasmine Hamdan