
Archives allow us to glimpse the past, and they provide integral information for contemporary viewers and researchers to understand and convey stories that might not otherwise be available. But fragments from the past also provide rich commentary on our present, as they interrupt our view of the world, often reshaping and redefining our most deeply rooted ideas. The short films in this segment stitch together archives and secrets––in the form of documents, images, and plants––sharing both personal and collective memories from the past to reimagine the present and future.
A tattoo ritual and hookah session memorializes a pre-war flower shop. After seeing its storefront in archival footage of the Lebanese Civil War, a first-generation daughter seeks information and connection to place. Scenes of 1976 Beirut are paired with today’s modern landscape, while roses are etched and coconut coals burn in a snowy diasporic setting.
- Year2023
- Runtime7 minutes
- LanguageEnglish, Arabic
- CountryCanada
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorChristina Hajjar
- CastDasha Savchenko, Nada Hajjar
- Production DesignChristina Hajjar
Archives allow us to glimpse the past, and they provide integral information for contemporary viewers and researchers to understand and convey stories that might not otherwise be available. But fragments from the past also provide rich commentary on our present, as they interrupt our view of the world, often reshaping and redefining our most deeply rooted ideas. The short films in this segment stitch together archives and secrets––in the form of documents, images, and plants––sharing both personal and collective memories from the past to reimagine the present and future.
A tattoo ritual and hookah session memorializes a pre-war flower shop. After seeing its storefront in archival footage of the Lebanese Civil War, a first-generation daughter seeks information and connection to place. Scenes of 1976 Beirut are paired with today’s modern landscape, while roses are etched and coconut coals burn in a snowy diasporic setting.
- Year2023
- Runtime7 minutes
- LanguageEnglish, Arabic
- CountryCanada
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorChristina Hajjar
- CastDasha Savchenko, Nada Hajjar
- Production DesignChristina Hajjar