The Backgammon Artisans
Short Portrait Documentary: In Bourj Hammoud, these artisans work for long hours to produce backgammon boards. As the world passes around them, they focus passionately on the wood and other materials that they work with to produce their craft. They worry that their artform will die out as Beirut transforms around them.
The Beirut Lighthouse
For more than 150 years one family has looked after the Manara lighthouse in Beirut. They have struggled to keep it running against shipwrecks, the Lebanese Civil War, and most recently the upscale developments that are built all around the area. This is one family’s struggle to keep an important part of Beirut’s history alive.
The Magical Art
By becoming at one with his masks, Giulio goes on a journey of identity and healing.
Since ancient times, when the lives of men and women were still wrapped in the fantastic world of mythology the mask represented an indispensable element in human evolution. Giulio Vanzan is an Italian artist, theatre performer and teacher who travels around the world, showcasing his passion for masks through body and movement, and in this process he makes us witness the power that masks unveil.
With no pre-developed story, I let my curiosity and Giulio's masks guide the film.
Keeping it in the family: 100 years of Dibs Kharroub
In a small village in Lebanon, one family have been making Dibs Kharroub (Carob Molasses) for over 100 years. 88 year old Fadwa her husband Menhem and son Georges have been making molasses together in a small village Ksaibeh, Mount Lebanon. Fadwa learnt how to make this delicious condiment from her family, and would sneak to meet Menhem late at night to teach him how to make molasses against her father’s orders. Hardly anything has changed in the way they grow, pick and process carob molasses. I looked into the untouched world of this family keeping true to its tradition, nested in the Lebanese mountains.
From Farm to Table: Coara - The First Lebanese Vegan Restaurant
Walid and Maysoon Nasserdin opened the first Lebanese vegan restaurant in Lebanon serving healthy vegan and bio food in an authentic green atmosphere. Coara sits on a hillside in the heart of the Chouf mountains, in a village called Kfar Katra, overlooking the land which they nurture to grow their precious ingredients. For decades, the couple have put their love into every single dish to create a beautiful and unique concept based on Lebanese food heritage.
For the Love of Thyme: The Man Who Cultivates Lebanon’s Wild Herb
Mohammad Ali Neimeh's — better known as Abu Kassem — life revolves around Za’atar, Lebanon wild thyme plant.
During the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, he needed to change the way thyme was grown, out of fear he would be shot or shelled
trying to get to his plants in the wild. The changes that he implemented have seen huge changes in the way that thyme is now grown
in Lebanon. This is his story.
Oum Ali - A Saj Story
Mona El Dorr is from a village in the south of Lebanon called Majdelzoum. She is known as Oum Ali. For over a decade, she has put her heart, strength and soul into keeping the culinary traditions of her village alive. She has defied the norms of her village, as an empowered working woman, to maintain these traditions. Mona has traveled the world, spreading her artisanal recipes and sharing Lebanon’s authentic culinary heritage with many.