THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – MUST SEE
Beirut, city in ruins: how many times have we heard this expression, linked to the Lebanese capital, devastated by wars and undermined by the crisis since the explosion of August 4, 2020 in the port? Lebanon is today, Monday, September 23, in mourning following the Israeli attacks on Hezbollah sites in the south of the country, which killed nearly 300 people.
In short, if filmmakers had waited for peace to return to cinema, Lebanese cinema would not be what it is. Directors and artists (photographers, performers, etc.) who document the conflict, or draw inspiration from it to create, are legion. To name just a few, filmmakers Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (I want to seein 2008; Memory box, in 2021) or the playwrights Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué, now working in Berlin and on the programme of the Autumn Festival, in 2024 (seven shows and five performances, in various venues in the Paris region until 20 December).
Resilient approach
Dancing on the volcanoCyril Aris’s second feature-length documentary follows a resilient approach: the day after the explosion in August 2020, the director took up his camera to capture the dilemmas of a film crew. One of his friends, filmmaker Mounia Akl, must decide whether or not to continue filming their social drama. Costa Brava, Lebanon. He quickly decided to see it through to the end, with all the difficulties that were bound to arise, starting with the lack of money, then the power cuts that disrupted post-production, etc. The film in question, released in cinemas in France in 2022, follows the daily life of a family from Beirut who move to a paradise camp. Until the day when, by order of the government, a gigantic waste dump near their home ruins the party.
It’s in the details that Dancing on a volcano It moves us. The idea that art sublimates reality is certainly not new, but the documentary records each day of shooting, each successful shot, as a small victory over the ongoing tragedy. Rather than being suffocating, the two or three hours a day spent in the car, in traffic jams, to get to the shooting location, pass by like a letter in the mail. The two little twins and actresses who discover the set create a distraction. They attach themselves to the adults, confiding to them their childhood doubts.
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