Den gamle nye Levanten: Film + samtale
March 14, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
As part of HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival, this event presents a program of short films curated by Masahat, followed by a panel discussion with Nadim Khoury, Rana Issa, and Zeina Bali.
In recent months, the Levant has witnessed dramatic upheavals: an ongoing genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, Israel’s war on Lebanon and the assassination of the Hezbollah leadership, and the fall of Assad’s 54-year rule in Syria. At the same time, we keep hearing about Netanyahu and Trump’s plans to redraw the map of the Middle East.
But how has this map evolved over the past half century?
Through film screenings and conversation, we take a historical look at the spirals of violence, wars, and militarization that have shaped Levantine society for more than 50 years. With a post-nationalist perspective, we want to shed light on the regional lines that have characterized the small nations of the Levant.
Short film program
Swords Take Me
In one of his poems, poet Mohsen al Ha’eri, speaking in the voice of Imam Hussein (the son of Imam Ali and, after his father, the second of the twelve Shi’a Imams) prior to his martyrdom in the battle of Karbala, says: “If the religion of Mohamed shall not prevail but through my killing/ Then O swords take me”. This video attempts to look at the mythological and metaphysical aspects of Lebanon’s July 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
2012, 30 minutes, arabic speech with english subtitles.
Director: Marwan Hamdan.
Step by Step
Step by Step is a reflection of the foundations of Syrian society under Assad rule. Ten years before filmmaker Ossama Mohammed received international recognition with Stars in Broad Daylight (1988) and 36 years before his award winning film Silvered Water – Syria Self Portrait 2014), he captured the dire state of Syria in this short documentary.Through the film’s experimental style, a harsh reality emerges closer to the surface. The apparently harmonious countryside turns out to be choking and violent. The effects of this are clearly demonstrated as a soldier talks about his childhood, in between the impressions of village life. Freedom and innocence have made way for a disturbing, fanatical loyalty to the state. Is this a reflection of the foundations of Syrian society under Assad’s rule?
1979, 24 minutes, arabic speech with english subtitles.
Director: Ossama Mohammad.
Detail 4
Inauguration of the Meir Kahana bible school in Tapu’ah, one of the most extreme Jewish settelements in the occupied territories.
2004, 5 minutes, hebrew speech with english subtitles.
Director: Avi Mograbi.
Interview with Ghassan Kanafani
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine spokesman Ghassan Kanafani interviewed by Richard Carleton, Beirut 1970.
1970, 7 minutes,
Director: Unknown.
About the directors
Marwan Hamdan is a Lebanese filmmaker and artist whose works explore Beirut’s political and social modern history, with a particular focus on religion, mythology, belief and systems of power. Filmography: “News from Rmeileh (2018), “Offside” (2015), “On Earth As It Is In Heaven” (2014), “Separation Anxiety” (2013), “O Swords Take Me” (2012).
Ossama Mohammad is a Syrian filmmaker, screenwriter and lecturer. His fiction and documentary films “Silvered Water” (2014), “Sunduq al Dunya” (2002) and “Nujoom Al Nahar” (1988) have all been selected for the Cannes Film Festival. His films have been banned in Syria, but have received critical acclaim and several awards internationally. In 2015, he received the Prince Claus Award. Ossama currently lives in exile in Paris.
Avi Mograbi is an Israeli filmmaker and video artist, born in 1956 in Tel Aviv, where he lives and works to this day. Mograbi is one of Israel’s most acclaimed filmmakers, and is best known for his unwavering commitment to social, cultural and political justice in the Middle East, as well as his experimental and innovative cinematic language. Mograbi’s documentaries have been programmed by festivals around the world, including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Rome, New York, FID Marseille, Vision du Reel and San Francisco, among others.
The final filmmaker is unknown, but here is a little about the journalist who interviews in “Ghassan Kanafani”: Richard George Carleton (July 11, 1943 – May 7, 2006) was an Australian television journalist, who eventually produced films abroad, such as in Indonesia (he was the only journalist allowed to visit the newly “integrated” East Timor) and in the Middle East.