Eliane Raheb
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (December 2019) |
Eliane Raheb (Template:Lang-ar; born 1972) is a documentary filmmaker and director from Lebanon.[1] She made her debut as a director with her 2012 film, Layali Bala Noom (Sleepless Nights).[1]
Early life and education
Eliane Raheb was born in 1972 in Lebanon, where she spent most of her youth during the Lebanese Civil War. In a 2014 interview, Raheb described her youth during the war: "I remember moving from one place to the next in search of shelter, like everyone else at the time. We lived through hard and painful moments. Despite that, we prevailed: we went to school and carried on with our lives... I will never forget the days of social harmony, when everyone would help the other." She was 19 when the war ended.[2]
Raheb's grandfather owned a theatre in Zahlé that sparked her interest in film. She stated that her family would often take refuge in her grandfather's theatre during the war, where they would watch films.[3] She began acting in theatre,[when?] working with Roger Assaf.[citation needed] Alongside acting, she began to write and direct dramas.[4] Raheb then transitioned from theatre to film, studying at IESAV[where?] in Beirut to become a filmmaker.
Career
Early career
Raheb's directorial debut came the release of her 1995 short film The Last Screening, which revolves around the relationship between a girl and her grandfather's theater.[1]
Raheb directed the 2002 documentary So Near Yet So Far, exploring details on how the February 6 Intifada squashed the hopes of visiting neighbouring countries for children living in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan.[1]
Suicide (2003) documents the Lebanese response to the American invasion of Iraq, depicting intelligence agencies involved, and those in Lebanon who fell for Iraqi propaganda and joined the fight.[1]
With her 2008 documentary This Is Lebanon, Raheb detailed the reemergence of violence in Lebanon.[1] The film follows the resistance against the establishment and the patriarchal family structure, which Raheb claims are partly to blame for the political and religious sectarianism in her country.[1] This Is Lebanon was broadcast internationally on television by ARTE, ZDF, and Al Jadeed.[1]
Sleepless Nights
In her 2012 documentary Sleepless Nights, Raheb explored the amnesty law granted to those who committed political crimes during the Lebanese Civil War, and how it affected both the victims and the perpetrators of these crimes.[5] To that end, Sleepless Nights depicts the lives of Assaad Chaftari, an ex-intelligence officer who was responsible for many casualties as a high-ranking member of a right wing militia, and Maryam Saiidi, whose son went missing in 1982.[6] Raheb devised Sleepless Nights with an interest in Assaad Chaftari's story.[7] Through her research and interview with him, Eliane covered the two conflicting narratives that is present in the film.[7]
When Sleepless Nights was released, it had trouble getting large-scale distribution in Lebanon due to its documentarian nature.[vague] Instead, the film was screened in three Lebanese theatres through individual efforts on behalf of Raheb and her supporters. Future Television criticized Sleepless Nights, calling it a "failure" for having less than 700 views within one week of its release. However, the film was acclaimed and screened on various platforms, such as the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel and Al Jadeed.[8] Jay Weissberg, writing for Variety, said, "It's hard to find a Lebanese film that doesn’t focus on the bloody civil war. And yet it is even harder to find a film that treats this topic better than Sleepless Nights."[5]
Those Who Remain
Her latest documentary, Those Who Remain, was screened[year needed] in more than 20 festivals. The film explores the life of Haykal, a 60-year old Christian farmer living in North Lebanon who is struggling to stay in his land, amidst sectarian tensions, fear, and hopelessness. Raheb said of the film: "I wanted to give the land a political, not only geographical, meaning."[9]
Other work
Alongside her career as a filmmaker, Raheb also supports the Lebanese film community by teaching filmmaking at the Saint Joseph University in Beirut and being active in cultural organizations in Lebanon.[1][10]
In 1999, Raheb founded Beirut DC, a cultural association whose objectives include providing support to independent filmmakers and promoting their work in Lebanon through co-production and screenings.[11] Viola Shafik, author of Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity, referred to Raheb's association Beirut DC as a "backbone of Lebanese alternative film art".[11]
Raheb has also been the artistic director of Beirut Cinema Days film festival for six editions. Ayam Bayrut al-sinim'iya considered her touring Arab Film Week among her association's most effective cultural initiatives.[11]
Together with producer Nizar Hassan, who produced Sleepless Nights, Raheb founded Free Arabs (2011-2012), an international multimedia documentary film project.[1] Free Arabs produced 160 short films as part of this project, all of which were by young filmmakers emanating from seven countries that took part in the Arab Spring.[1] All 160 short documentaries, which detail the day-to-day lives of Arabs during the revolutions, were published online.[6]
Raheb's Lebanese-based production company Itar Productions is active throughout the Arab world.[12]
Style and themes
Raheb has displayed an interest in Lebanese experiences across her filmography. Commenting on her own work, Raheb stated, "In the absence of a film industry structure in Lebanon, short films have performed the invaluable task of chronicling life in Lebanon after the war. They provide the material for a potential cinema."[13] She described that cinema is an integral tool that should be used in order to unravel Lebanon's past.[2]
Raheb's childhood largely influenced her work. Regarding the war, she said that she "never understood the little wars within the big one".[14] Later, she described its influence on her work: "The war lingers in my head, and I always search for it traces. So I wanted to ask my questions on the screen." She began work on her first socio-political documentary around 2000.[14]
When asked about her objectivity in Sleepless Nights, Raheb responded: "In the field of cinema, objectivity is a big lie. I tried to be as objective as possible. That is why I did not make a film about the Lebanese Civil War. Rather, I made a film about two people who lived through the war. I began from that reality, to tell their story, not mine. This film is not a biased journalistic report; rather it is a creative work that identifies with the human: her emotions, fears, and dreams."[4]
Because of its political nature, Raheb's work is largely documentary. However, Raheb described her approach to documentary films: "I learned... through documentary, how to bring back the fiction... so I am dealing with an issue that is important, but I am having real characters instead of having actors; but if I want to be cinematic, I have to deal with them as if they are characters in a film... I have to give them the time to develop their own story with a dramatical line."[3]
Awards and nominations
Raheb's documentary This Is Lebanon received the Excellency Award at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.[6]
At the Mumbai Film Festival, Raheb's film Suicide garnered second place.[1] Sight & Sound included the film in its list of the 25 best international films of 2013.[1] Suicide also won a number of competitions, including the Human Rights Prize at the Cine Invisible festival in Bilbao, an award for documentary films at the Birds Eye View Festival in London, and the full-length film competition at the LAIFF Festival in Argentina.[1][better source needed]
Those Who Remain won the Special Jury Prize Muhr Feature award at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival.[15]
Filmography
| Year | Title[16][17] | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | The Last Screening | director | short film |
| 1996 | Encounter | director | short film |
| 2001 | So Near Yet So Far | director | documentary |
| 2003 | Suicide | director | documentary |
| 2008 | This is Lebanon | director, writer | documentary |
| 2012 | Sleepless Nights | director, executive producer and researcher | documentary |
| 2016 | Those Who Remain | director, producer | documentary |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Berliner Künstlerprogramm | Biography: Raheb, Eliane". www.berliner-kuenstlerprogramm.de. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
- ^ a b Ltief, Gaby (2014-09-05). "المخرجة اللبنانية إليان الراهب تعرض «ليالٍ بلا نوم» في باريس: "لم أفهم هذه الحروب الصغيرة داخل الحرب الكبيرة!"". MC Doualiya (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-03-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b inpettofilm. “Eliane Raheb - Gast Des Berliner Künstlerprogramms Des DAAD 2015.” YouTube, YouTube, 5 Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IiD3xKdnw.
- ^ a b توبي هناء. “إليان الراهب: الموضوعية السينمائية كذبة كبيرة.” صحيفة الخليج, 30 Mar. 2015, www.alkhaleej.ae/alkhaleej/page/5ddb31c4-fbc9-4211-878e-f1782bca4d71.
- ^ a b Weissberg, Jay (2012-12-22). "Review: 'Sleepless Nights'". Variety. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
- ^ a b c "Screening of Sleepless Nights, a film directed by Eliane Raheb | Watson Institute". watson.brown.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
- ^ a b Beirut, Ayam. “A Chat with Eliane Raheb, Director of 'Sleepless Nights' (English Subtitles).” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Apr. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwOMKIm2dk8.
- ^ "إليان الراهب ترد على المستقبل: تقرير تافه وغير دقيق". Elfann.com. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- ^ Berlin, Alfilm. “Interview with Director Eliane Raheb.” YouTube, YouTube, 20 Apr. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3OuJciROpg.
- ^ Armes, R..Arab Filmmakers of the Middle East: A Dictionary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010. Project MUSE
- ^ a b c Shafik, Viola. Arab Cinema : History and Cultural Identity (New Revised Edition) (New Revised). Cairo, EG: American University in Cairo Press, 2000. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 5 December 2016.
- ^ "Sleepless nights". Doha Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ Khatib, Lina. Tauris World Cinema : Lebanese Cinema : Imagining the Civil War and Beyond. London, US: I.B.Tauris, 2008. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 5 December 2016.
- ^ a b "بدون قناع - المخرجة اللبنانية إليان الراهب تعرض «ليالٍ بلا نوم» في باريس: "لم أفهم هذه الحروب الصغيرة داخل الحرب الكبيرة!"". مونت كارلو الدولية / MCD. May 9, 2014.
- ^ “DIFF Awards 2016.” Dubai Film Fest, dubaifilmfest.com/en/page/387/muhr_awards_2016.html.
- ^ "Eliane Raheb". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
- ^ Hillauer, Rebecca (2000). Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press. p. 435 – via ProQuest ebrary.
External links
- Eliane Raheb at IMDb