Beirut over and over again | Beyrouth plusieurs fois

(Text by Nour Ouyada and Philip Widmann)

You may have seen the pictures and videos of the explosion that shook Beirut at 6:08 pm on August 4th. It was larger than anyone can imagine. Till today, there are 178 deaths and thousands of injured and displaced. Many have lost their wives, husbands, kids, lovers, homes and livelihoods. Protests against the encrusted political system represented by the Lebanese government took place after the catastrophe and were answered with more violence, tear gas, rubber bullets, pellets, repression. A state of military emergency was declared and is threatening our freedom to protest and stand against a regime that has literally blown us all up. The regime is still keeping us in the dark as to what really happened at the dock number 12 at the port that day. Meanwhile we are cleaning up our streets, mourning our dead, worried sick about those that remain unfound and still counting the damages.

The catastrophe has escalated the severe difficulties experienced by many in Lebanon due to political inertia, the collapse of the national economy, and the global pandemic. Many are struggling to survive and need our help to rebuild homes, shops, find shelter and food, replace their work tools that they lost during the blast.

In light of this situation, we have selected several films from and about Beirut to be screened in various cities around the world. The donations collected at these screenings will be put where they’re needed most at the moment, and where they directly help people sustain their livelihoods. All proceeds will be distributed among organisations that offering help to migrant workers, refugees, transgender and LGBTQ communities, small initiatives offering basic support with food and rebuilding measures, as well as a solidarity fund for the arts. A full list of all organisations can be found here.

Program

Prologue

Crossing the Danube I made this short video in 2019, shot on my phone from my balcony which overlooks the port. Overlooking the 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate that would later cause a disaster.

E.D.L.

Siska | 2011 | 21’ | Super 8 transferred to video | no dialog

Lost in time and translation, images transport us on a journey behind the modernist facade of Beirut’s electricity building. The images shot on Super 8 are accompanied by droning noises reminiscent of experimental, electronic sounds of the 1950s and 60s. The video portrays Lebanon’s National Electricity building as an homage to a once modernist project linked to the very construction of Lebanon’s modern state. Till today Beirut suffers from a power cut of three hours a day, outside of the capital up to 8 hours per 24, thus this building is a highly politicized subject. The question of who is in control of the actual power switch is reflecting the confessional divisions of Lebanon in general and has recently made the building the aim of violent protests.

2mg of rotten blood on pure white snow

Rami El Sabbagh | 2007 | 21’ | MiniDV to digital | no dialog

In the mid 80s, Beirut is at war. A group of young men wearing neat black clothing wander around the city by night. They occupy empty houses for a few hours and gather what they can of the furniture. In the darkness of the night, they move the goods to the mountains and sell them back to their owners. Each night after midnight, the young men meet in an empty movie theatre. There they watch films, smoke cigarettes, discuss cinema, and receive orders from an old man. "I have one thing to tell you: one of these days I am going to cut myself into dear little frames and feed them into a live transmission. Alive again.

Allô Chérie

Danielle Arbid | 2015 | 24’ | Digital | Arabic with English subtitles

“A woman drives around Beirut and talks on the phone. She is calling a bank. She is calling those who owe her money. She is calling those who lend and those who borrow. She’s my mother.” Danielle Arbid

Le Voyage immobile / الشوق قد على / As Far As Yearning

Mohamed Soueid & Ghassan Salhab | 2017 | 23’ | Digital | Arabic with English subtitles

As Far as Yearning is that dialogue-in-progress taking the shape of a film composed by sound, performed by words, perforated by images still in motion. Ghassan Salhab and Mohamed Soueid are embracing a sense of survival. This film is a sixth sense they nurtured in a world that has become faceless. Their film essay is a personal attempt to be two in one. Disguised as men, they walk among men who left behind their shadows.