Truth, lies and moving images of civil resistance from Beirut

Source: Reuters, 4-4-2007
Beirut: Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri had a sense of deja vu last year while filming a documentary on life in Beirut under "Israeli" bombardment.
"History repeats itself, that`s for sure," said Masri, whose early work includes Under the Rubble - a documentary on Beirut during "Israel`s" 1982 invasion.
Due out in a few months, `33 Days in Beirut` presents what Masri describes as "civil resistance" in Lebanon during the July-August war between "Israel" and Hizbullah.
The film follows volunteers who helped some of the hundreds of thousands uprooted by a conflict which killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians.
Forty-one "Israeli" settlers and 117 "Israeli" soldiers were also killed.
An array of groups emerged to help Lebanon`s displaced. Masri follows volunteers including a playwright who worked with children driven from south Lebanon to shelters in Beirut.
"Resistance has different levels," she said. "I try to portray that through the role of people working in different fields ... The volunteer work."
One of the Arab world`s most prominent documentary makers, Masri has won dozens of international awards. Much of her work has documented the lives of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese during war.
"War is what I`ve known all my life. Being Palestinian, you can`t run away from that," she said.
Many of Masri`s films have been broadcast by major television channels in Europe and the United States. But she talks of growing difficulty in getting them aired.
"There`s more control," she said. "Obstacles in terms of getting our films to large audiences. Even Jimmy Carter is facing obstacles." The former US president has faced sharp criticism by Jewish (Zionist) groups in the United States over his book Palestine: Peace not Apartheid.
Masri said: "That`s the kind of obstacle I`m talking about - the obstacle of reaching mainstream audiences when you portray Arabs or Palestinians in a positive way. There are many powerful machines that don`t want that image to come across.
"But it`s possible to break through."
Latest release
Masri`s latest release, `Beirut Diaries: Truth, Lies and Videos`, has generated heated debate among audiences in Lebanon during an unusually long five-week cinema screening.
It presents a critical view of the `Cedar Revolution` of 2005, when the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri triggered mass protests in Beirut and international pressure forced Syria to withdraw troops from Lebanon.
The film shows a divide between the protesters and Lebanese who did not take part. With Lebanon still locked in a political crisis rooted in the Hariri assassination, the film had "touched a nerve", Masri said.
"What`s great is that it`s generating discussion and debate between people who don`t normally talk to one another," she said.
"All Lebanese will tell you they want democracy, freedom ... The divisions in Lebanon are artificial, not profound.
"Normal people want the best thing for their country. But the politicians and the sectarian politics manipulate them into becoming militarised. That`s the danger."