Jocelyne Saab: Artistic-Journalistic Documentaries in Lebanese Times of War

The second case study looks at Jocelyne Saab’s early work. She is well-known for fiction films Dunia, Kiss Me Not on the Eyes (2005) and What is Going On (2010). However, it is less well-known that she started her career as a documentary maker during the Lebanese Civil War. She recorded the war from the inside. Saab is especially effective in her attempts to deal with the trauma of the civil war for children, safeguarding a national memory that has become entrenched in amnesia. Her films, such as Lebanon in Torment (1975), Beirut Never Again (1978), Letters from Beirut (1979) and Once upon a Time in Beirut (1995) illustrate how Lebanon’s film culture is in fact defined by (civil) war. While Saab lives between Cairo and Paris, Beirut is one of the most modern cities in the Arab world, and is stereotypically known as the Paris of the Orient. It has become the centre of cinema production in the region and has inspired many young filmmakers to reconstitute their Lebanese identity through documentary. In this context, Lebanese documentary is an intellectualist art form and an opportunity to experiment.