Beirut Diaries (Yaumiyat Beirut)

 

ABOUT THE FILM

By focusing on the experiences of 25-year-old Nadine Zaidan, who was one of the thousands of activists who gathered in Beirut's Martyrs Square in the chaotic days immediately following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February of 2005, Beirut Diaries explores critical transformations and crucial questions facing contemporary Lebanon. With this insightful video diary, director Mai Masri (Frontiers of Dreams and Fears) chronicles the political ferment embodied in the March 11th Movement, also known as The Cedar Revolution, as people of all factions, ages and religious affiliations passionately debate such issues as Syria's influence in Lebanese politics, the establishment of an international commission to investigate Hariri's assassination and the organization of free parliamentary elections. Masri's documentary shows that together, the people of Lebanon are striving to forge a new direction for their country.

 
 
 
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Mai Masri
Mai Masri

Mai Masri (b. 1959) is a Palestinian filmmaker largely based in Lebanon. Masri received a degree in film production from San Francisco State University. She has directed and produced several award-winning films that have been broadcast and shown internationally. 

 

Mai Masri -- Documentary, 79’, Arabic (Lebanon: 2006)

Blanche's Homeland (Watan Blanche)

 

ABOUT THE FILM

This intimate film, evocative and poetic, follows the steps of an elderly woman in the years between 1988 and 2001. Blanche was born in Jaffa, Palestine, where her parents were landowners, and was exiled in the 1948 war. Her life became a series of exiles, from Jaffa to Beirut to Europe and the U.S. Reflecting on the history she has lived, Blanche rebels against the amnesia of the world concerning the fate of the Palestinians, and through dialogues between her and the younger generations of exiled Palestinians, bears witness to the tenacity and permanence of their identity.

 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers
Maryse Gargour
Maryse Gargour

Maryse Gargour was born in Jaffa. She has been a journalist and a producer at the Office de Radio Diffusion et de la Télévision Française in Beirut. She has worked at UNESCO in Paris, at the International Council for Cinema and Television, and has also been a freelance journalist for international television news services in Paris. 

 

Maryse Gargour -- Documentary, 28', French/English/Arabic (Palestine/France: 2002)

Bread (Le Pain)

 

ABOUT THE FILM

In rural France, a couple and their son are about to have lunch. There's no bread left. The father goes to buy some. Time passes and the mother goes off in turn to buy bread. This is the first film by noted Palestinian actress Hiam Abbas.

 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers
Hiam Abbas
Hiam Abbas

Hiam Abbas began her career acting in Palestinian theater groups before taking film roles with directors such as Rashid Masharawi and Michel Khleifi. She is known for her roles in the films Satin Rouge, Paradise Now(2005), The Syrian Bride (2004), and Free Zone (2005).

 
 

Hiam Abbas -- 18’, French (France: 2002)

The Cane

 

A challenging documentary dealing with the issue of violence against children in Palestinian society and it's economic, historic and social roots. Includes interviews and footage of children and their families from Gaza and the West Bank

 
 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers 2
Abdel Salam Shehadeh
Abdel Salam Shehadeh

Abdel Salam Shehadeh is from Rafah in Gaza, Palestine. He has worked in television production and media and as a camera and sound technician, and has worked in various capacities for international news crews. Director of more than 15 Documentary films such as The Shadow, the Cane, and Debris which had a good impact in many international festivals.

 

Abdel Salam Shehadeh -- 26' (Palestine: 2000)

Canticle of the Stones (Le Cantique des Pierres)

 

ABOUT THE FILM

This documentary-feature tells the story of two Palestinians who fall in love during the sixties. Due to the political climate, their relationship is denied its full expression when he is condemned to life imprisonment for acts of resistance against the Israelis and she emigrates to America to overcome her sorrow. Eighteen years later, they meet at the height of the Intifada. She is now a scholar and is in Jerusalem to research the meaning of sacrifice in Palestinian society, only to find him liberated and working for an agricultural aid organisation. Their feelings for each other are rekindled but time has not made things any easier. They are surrounded with chaos and violence and must struggle once more to maintain their ties. 

 
 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers
Michel Khleifi
Michel Khleifi

Michel Khleifi was born in Nazareth in 1950. In 1970 he traveled to Belgium where he studied television and theatre directing. Considered the founder of modern Palestinian cinema, Khleifi produced and directed several full-length features and documentaries for international release and broadcast. His previous documentary feature, Fertile Memory (1980), was the first Palestinian film to be shown at the Cannes FF and was a groundbreaking work, both on a political and aesthetic level, treating the struggle for women's freedom and emancipation, across the generations and under occupation, in a haunting lyrical style that became all his own.

 

Michel Khleifi -- 100’ (Palestine/Belgium: 1990)

The Challenge

 

About the film

Commissioned for the Arab Screen Festival of March 2000 as part of a series of films on the much publicized killing of Mohamed Al-Dorra, Tahady is an account of the director’s own drastically aborted attempts to meet with his crew in Ramallah to discuss the possibility of making the short film in question. The meeting is complicated by the fact that Hassan happens to be an Israeli citizen.

 
 

FILMMAKER

Nizar Hassan -- 21' (Palestine: 2000)

Childhood in the Midst of Mines

 

About the film

"We're deprived from playing because of the landmines, and our families are not able to cultivate the land." Israel left many landmines in South Lebanon when they withdrew from the country in May, 2000. Following Israel's withdrawal, many children continued to be injured by these mines. This film aims to prompt both government and public action to remedy this situation.

 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers
Hicham Kayed
Hicham Kayed

Hicham Kayed is a 2008 Joiner Fellow. A Palestinian living in Lebanon, he is the director of The Arab Resource Center for Popular Arts, organizations which work conducting writing and film workshops for Palestinian youth living in the refugee camps in Lebanon. He is the multimedia coordinator of AL-JANA, the Arab Resource Center for Popular Arts in Beirut.

 

 
 

Hicham Kayyed -- 18' (Lebanon: 2002)
 

Children of Fire (Atfal Jebel Nar)

 

About the film

When filmmaker Mai Masri returned to her hometown of Nablus after a fourteen year absence, she discovered a new generation of Palestinian fighters: the children of the Intifada. Children of Fire captures their courageous story on film and paints a daring portrait of the Palestinian uprising.

 
 
DOAN | Filmmakers 2
Mai Masri
Mai Masri

Mai Masri (b. 1959) is a Palestinian filmmaker largely based in Lebanon. Masri received a degree in film production from San Francisco State University. She has directed and produced several award-winning films that have been broadcast and shown internationally. 

 
 

Mai Masri -- 50’, Arabic with English Subtitles (Lebanon: 1990)