Download PDF document

By Randa Chahal, to be followed by a discussion with Nahla Chahal (researcher, assafir al-arabi) Nicolas Dot-Pouill ard (IFPO-Beirut), and Laure Guirguis (Orient-Institut)

Abstract

Beirut, September 1994: the "reconstruction" of the city has begun. The war has been over for two years. Drawing on the 16 mm movies she made between 1975 and 1994, Randa Chahal explores the various paths of political commitment to civil war through discussions with her brother, her Iraqi-born mother and her father, both long-time members of the Communist Party, and her sister, Nahla Chahal, who became a militant at the age of 14 and engaged in the Organization for Communist Action in Lebanon (OACL). Our Heedless Wars is also a thought-provoking journey of rediscovery, documenting the filmmaker's return home from Paris, where she lived in self-imposed political exile, to the ruins of a city whose reconstruction marks the passing of a part of her life.

Bio

Randa Chahal was born in Tripoli, Lebanon. After attending the Grande École Louis Lumière in 1975, she directed several documentaries including: "'Step By Step" (1979) and ''Our Heedless Wars (1995, Locarno Film Festival). Her feature films include "'Civilisées" (1999, Venice Film Festival selection) and "The Kite" in 2004. She died on the 25th of August 2008 at the age of 55 from cancer.

1995. Color Beta SP. 62 min. Original Language: Arabic, French. Subtitles:English.

Director: Randa Chahal. Script: Randa Chahal. Cinematography: Frederic Labourasse, Roby Breidy, Hassan Naamani, Lionel Cousin. Sound: Pierre Camus, Eric Munch, Nadia Ben Rachid. Editing: Yves Deschamps, Catherine

Bonetat Production: Archipel 33, La Sept Arte, Leil Productions. International Sales: Doc & Co.

Find us on Google Maps