Mabrouk at Tahrir: Chronicle of a Return to South Lebanon by Dalia Fathallah (2002, 60 minutes)
Made between 2002 and 2006, these four recent documentaries by Lebanese women filmmakers present rare insights into contemporary Lebanon. Recognizing that the present is a complex and selective layering of various pasts, and that a nation is a conglomeration of often contested perspectives and experiences, they challenge simplistic visions of Lebanon and the Middle East. Through an engagement with a variety of individuals or communities, often over lengthy periods, these four films refuse complacency to eloquently offer narratives of the present that are completely absent from U.S. media. Three of the documentaries are U.S. premieres.
Here and Perhaps Elsewhere by Lamia Joreige (2003, 55 minutes)
Joreige takes her video camera to interviews numerous residents of Beirut, especially along the line that used to be the demarcation between East and West Beirut, about disappearances of family members or friends. The resulting conversations shed light on the deep and still present trauma of the Civil War.
Mabrouk at Tahrir: Chronicle of a Return to South Lebanon by Dalia Fathallah (2002, 60 minutes)
Fathallah follows the return of the Charour family to South Lebanon after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000. Filmed over many months, this piece provides an intimate look at the meaning of exile and return while examining the daily gestures and political complexities of life in a small village in South Lebanon.
