From: Irina Leimbacher (email suppressed)
Date: Fri Mar 02 2007 - 15:18:32 PST
NEW ESSAY and DOC FILMS FROM LEBANON IN THE BAY AREA THIS WEEK.
Please come to Artist's Television Access or California Theatre.
info below.
MARCH 4, 6, 8, AND 11, 2007 in San Francisco and Berkeley
THROUGH LEBANESE EYES:
RECENT DOCUMENTARIES BY LEBANESE WOMEN
PRESENTED BY THE ARAB FILM FESTIVAL WITH SF CAMERAWORK
CURATED BY IRINA LEIMBACHER, UC BERKELEY
Made between 2002 and 2006, these 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.
Here and Perhaps Elsewhere by Lamia Joreige (2003, 55 minutes)
CALIFORNIA PREMIERE
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) US PREMIERE
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
Beirut Diaries: Truth, Lies and Video by Mai Masri (2006, 76 minutes)
SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW
Well-known documentary filmmaker Mai Masri follows the eclectic and
multi-confessional youth movement that took over Martyrs’ Square for
several months following the gruesome assassination of Rafik Hariri
in 2005. Awarded prize for best documentary at the Institut du Monde
Arabe.
Lebanon/War by Rania Stephan (2006, 47 minutes) US PREMIERE
Shot in the midst of and immediately following the Israeli attacks on
Lebanon in July and August 2006, Stephan gives us eight brief
glimpses into what it means to be caught in the middle of a war.
From workers, ambulance crews and refugees in Beirut to the rubble
of villages in the South, the video provides a sense of the rage,
resignation, and trauma caused by war.
SCREENING INFO:
PROGRAM 1: Here and Perhaps Elsewhere and Mabrouk at Tahrir
•••SUNDAY MARCH 4, 7 and 9:30 pm (2 shows of both films)
Artist's Television Access, 992 Valencia St (at 21st St), San Francisco
•••TUESDAY MARCH 6, 7 pm only
California Theater 2113 Kittredge St, Berkeley
PROGRAM 2: Beirut Diaries and Lebanon/War
•••THURSDAY MARCH 8, 7 pm only
California Theater 2113 Kittredge St, Berkeley
•••SUNDAY MARCH 11, 7 and 9:30 pm (2 shows of both films)
Artist's Television Access, 992 Valencia St (at 21st St), San Francisco
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For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.