| Director: | Feyrouz Serhal |
|---|---|
| Production: | Al Jazeera Documentary (Bekkar Mehdi), Road2Films (Choucair Cynthia) |
| Running Time: | 125’ |
| Language: | Arabic, French, English |
| Country: | Qatar, Lebanon |
| Main Cast: | Hassan Daoud
Fawwaz Traboulsi, Souraya Khoury Baghdadi, Elie Adabachi, Joana Hadjithomas, Rana Eid, Michel Kammoun, Eliane Raheb, Hady Zaccak, Raja Zgheib, Nour Dimachkieh, Evelyne Hlais, Raymond Zakaria, Mariane Fayyad - as themselves |
| Screenplay: | Feyrouz Serhal |
| Cinematographer: | Rachelle Noja |
| Editor: | Maria Malek |
| Sound: | Haitham Atme |
Cinema
Wa ada Maroun ila Beirut (Maroun returns to Beirut)
Venice Classics
synopsis
2023 marked the thirtieth anniversary of Maroun Baghdadi’s sudden and tragic death. Maroun was a Lebanese filmmaker who wrote and directed films during the Lebanese civil war and contributed to documentary and fiction filmmaking from 1973 up until his death in 1993. In this film, Feyrouz Serhal embarks on a day trip in Beirut and navigates the city that profoundly shaped Maroun’s journey in life and cinema. Here she encounters individuals who were close to him and who shared his experiences. And as she traverses Maroun’s life and career, the social and political backdrop moves to the foreground. The film reflects on the last fifty years of the history of the country from a present standpoint. Through Maroun’s story, we perceive how cinema can, beautifully and dramatically, portray our stories and discourse our life events..
director's statement
Wa Ada Maroun Ila Beirut is a film about a film director. About Beirut, his city and mine. About cinema, his passion and mine. On the occasion of Maroun Baghdadi’s death anniversary, I decided to bring him back to the city he loved most, to the city I love most. And while I planned the itinerary of my journey, he was my guide. Through his films, I constructed my trip, my film. Through his shots, I saw his places, I recognized mine. With his friends, comrades, colleagues, I sat and chatted about him. He was there, agreeing and disagreeing, I could see his mischievous smile. I got him back to Beirut primarily because I wanted to get to know him better, maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, but after that time spent with him, I am certain and it is undeniable that cinema and life can’t be navigated but through passion, that cinema and life beautifully entwine. That is the only way it should be. The only way it can be.
production/distribution
PRODUCTION 1: Al Jazeera Documentary – Medhi Bekkar
Al Jazeera Media Network
122014, Doha, Qatar
Tel. 974 40158295
Mob. 974 66314868
bekkarm@aljazeera.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aljazeeradoc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeradocumentary
Website: https://doc.aljazeera.net/
PRODUCTION 2: Road2Films – Cynthia Choucair
Pierre Amin Gemayel Str, La Pinède center, 1st Floor
1203, Sin el Fil, Lebanon
Tel. 961 1499199
Mob. 961 3278828
cynthia@road2films.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/road2films
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/road2films/
Website: https://www.road2films.com/
WORLD SALES: Al Jazeera Documentary - Adel Ksiksi
Al Jazeera Media Network
122014, Doha, Qatar
Tel. 974 44896464
Mob. 974 55599743
adelk@aljazeera.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aljazeeradoc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeradocumentary
Website: https://doc.aljazeera.net/
PRESS OFFICE: Cynthia Choucair
Lebanon
Tel. 961 1499199
Mob. 961 3278828
cynthia@road2films.com
