Archive | Documentaries

Susan Sarandon and Ben Stiller Are in Beirut!

I just stumbled upon a post by Beirut Digital District showing Susan Sarandon and Ben Stiller along with Nadine Labaki attending a private screening of the documentary film Soufra at BDD.

The film follows the story of a Palestinian refugee, Mariam Shaar, from Bourj Al Barajneh camp as she establishes a catering business with the help of other women from her community and succeeds to expand it into a food truck business with the funding and support of Alfanar venture philanthropy.

Soufra follows the unlikely and wildly inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur, Mariam Shaar – a generational refugee who has spent her entire life in the Burj El Barajneh refugee camp just south of Beirut, Lebanon. The film follows Mariam as she sets out against all odds to change her fate by launching a successful catering company, “Soufra,” and then expand it into a food truck business with a diverse team of fellow refugee woman who now share this camp as their home. Together, they heal the wounds of war through the unifying power of food while taking their future into their own hands through an unrelenting belief in Mariam, and in each other. In the process, Mariam is breaking barriers, pulling together Syrian, Iraqi, Palestinian and Lebanese women to work side by side and form beautiful friendships while running this thriving business.

Soufra will shine a new and revealing light on people inside of the largest refugee crisis in human history, but ultimately this film is about hope, grit, passion and the common bonds created by bringing people together around food as a bridge to overcome all barriers. Though Mariam is officially considered “stateless” she is a beacon of hope and home for thousands upon thousands of women in the most unlikely of places. Mariam and her team will be just that for thousands more once her story is told through Soufra. Source

Susan Sarandon is in fact the executive producer for Soufra and she decided to contribute into this documentary after learning about Mariam Shaar’s inspiring story.

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War Hotels – The Holiday Inn and Le Commodore Beirut Episodes

“War Hotels” is a documentary series showing on Al Jazeera that tells stories of iconic hotels that were associated with recent warfare, and two episodes that were aired earlier this month explored the stories of the Holiday Inn and Le Commodore hotels in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War that starte in 1975.

The Holiday Inn opened in 1974 but unfortunately turned into a war only a year later as it became part of the Battle of the Hotels. During that time the fighting militias got into fierce battles to control a group of hotels in the area of Saint-George and Ain El Mrayyseh including the Phoenicia and Holiday Inn.

On the other hand, Le Commodore became famous for being a safe haven for world journalists covering the civil war. Aside from its relatively safe location in Hamra at that time, what also helped was the available of communications lines to allow journalists to report their stories.

The two episodes are quite informative and have very interesting testimonies. You can either watch them on Al Jazeera website here and here or through the below two YouTube videos.

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100 Years of Dibs El Kharroub

I usually frequently search Vimeo for Lebanese content but for some reason totally missed this 4 minutes documentary by Nay Aoun about a family that has been making Dibs El Kharroub (Carob Molasses) for over a hundred years now at a village called Ksaibeh in Mount Lebanon!

Fadwa, 80 years old now, was taught how to make molasses by her father and has been practicing the tradition since she was 15. Against her father’s will, she also used to sneak during the night to a guy called Menhem to teach him the correct recipe because he never got it right in his little workshop back then. The two eventually ended up getting married and started working together.

The son George is currently taking over the tradition but is unfortunately having difficulty convincing his children to do the same now.

If it wasn’t for the video I honestly wouldn’t have known making molasses was such a delicate process!

For those who are not familiar with it, Carob Molasses are mostly used in deserts recipes such as molasses cakes or it can simply be mixed with Tahini (Dibs w Tahini) and people usually have it with biscuits or bread. It is also an essential ingredient of Jallab the famous Ramadan drink.

Update:

I just noticed the video cannot be embedded due to its privacy settings so you can watch it on Vimeo here.

via /r/Lebanon

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Casino Du Liban Documentary by George Ghanem

We’re definitely lucky to have somebody like George Ghanem producing documentaries about the recent history of Lebanon for our generation. He has so far produced and contributed in several good documentaries about Lebanon and remarkable Lebanese politicians such as Koullouna Lil Watan, Zaman Rafic Al Hariri, Lady of the Palace and others.

His most recent work deals with Casino Du Liban and it aired last weekend on MTV in two episodes. Just like Ghanem’s previous documentaries this one was also quite enjoyable as it introduced us to how the casino was established and quickly became a point of attraction until the Lebanese civil war intensified which eventually led to closing it down in 1989 and then reopening it later in 1996. The documentary also of cited the challenges that faced every appointed general manager due to political interference.

I highly recommend you check it out if you missed it on TV. The two episodes are available on MTV Lebanon website in HD.

Part 1
Part 2

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Bachir Gemayel The Series

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Bachir Gemayel is probably the most controversial Lebanese figure of our modern history whose personality was admired by his allies and opponents alike, and for the 34th commemoration of his assassination MTV Lebanon is showing a 5-episode documentary about him.

I personally have always felt curious to watch segments about Bachir’s short political life and rise to power, and there are several available documentaries on YouTube about that matter, but I believe this one is a must watch for those interested in our recent history because it was prepared by George Ghanem who already provided several great documentaries about Lebanese political parties and figures during his days at LBC. Moreover, the used material was provided by Bachir Gemayel Foundation and includes footage and speeches that were never shown before.

The episodes are being aired every Tuesday at 8:45PM with 2 episodes already out, and you can also watch them online here on MTV’s website.

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