IN THE RUINS OF BAALBECK STDUIOS
بين هياكل ستوديو بعلبك
16mm & Super 8 transfered to HD, 48min - 2017
The work is about the ruination of film heritage navigated through Lebanon's cinematic heydays of the late 1960s and early 1970s - a period that saw an increasing number of Egyptian producers and directors moving to Lebanon to make films, partly due to Gamal Abdel Nasser's nationalization of Egyptian cinema. In the film, we are transported back in time to a forgotten era of film production and set in a variety of cities, including Beirut, Tripoli, Baalbeck, Casablanca, and Los Angeles. Creating a parallel between film archiving and archeology, it examines how cinema has been and is perceived, and how parts of history can be erased wilfully. This story revolves around one of the biggest production studios in the Arab world and its lost archive. Studio Baalbeck, which was the heart of Lebanese filmmaking in the 1960s, was destroyed during the civil war. The studio's destruction symbolized not only the loss of physical infrastructure but also a devastating blow to the cultural heritage and collective memory of Lebanon. The Berlinale Forum section premiered "In the Ruins of Baalbek Studios" in 2018 and was later developed into a multimedia installation.
The film features: Alexandre Paulikevitch (dancer) Fredrika Brillembourg (soprano singing in Lebanese Arabic) Language: English, French, Arabic with Eng. subtitles
Grant- Cultural Resource Production Awards Program Distributed by Arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art
بين هياكل ستوديو بعلبك
16mm & Super 8 transfered to HD, 48min - 2017
The work is about the ruination of film heritage navigated through Lebanon's cinematic heydays of the late 1960s and early 1970s - a period that saw an increasing number of Egyptian producers and directors moving to Lebanon to make films, partly due to Gamal Abdel Nasser's nationalization of Egyptian cinema. In the film, we are transported back in time to a forgotten era of film production and set in a variety of cities, including Beirut, Tripoli, Baalbeck, Casablanca, and Los Angeles. Creating a parallel between film archiving and archeology, it examines how cinema has been and is perceived, and how parts of history can be erased wilfully. This story revolves around one of the biggest production studios in the Arab world and its lost archive. Studio Baalbeck, which was the heart of Lebanese filmmaking in the 1960s, was destroyed during the civil war. The studio's destruction symbolized not only the loss of physical infrastructure but also a devastating blow to the cultural heritage and collective memory of Lebanon. The Berlinale Forum section premiered "In the Ruins of Baalbek Studios" in 2018 and was later developed into a multimedia installation.
The film features: Alexandre Paulikevitch (dancer) Fredrika Brillembourg (soprano singing in Lebanese Arabic) Language: English, French, Arabic with Eng. subtitles
Grant- Cultural Resource Production Awards Program Distributed by Arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art
Kodak company Beirut - photo archive - courtesy of Nadil Semaan
Kodak company Beirut - photo archive - courtesy of Nadil Semaan
