I Want To See
Baddi Chouf - Story line
July 2006. A war breaks out in Lebanon. A new war, but not just one more war. A war that crushes the hopes of peace and the momentum of our generation. We no longer know what to write, what stories to recount, what images to show. We ask ourselves: what can cinema do ? That question, we decide to translate it into reality. We go to Beirut with an icon, an actress who, to us, symbolizes cinema, Catherine Deneuve. She will meet our preferred actor, Rabih Mroué. Together, they will drive through the regions devastated by the conflict. Through their presence, their meeting, we hope to find the beauty which our eyes no longer perceive. It is the beginning of an unpredictable, unexpected adventure.
- Crew and Cast
Lebanon / France – 2008 – color
| Duration | 75 minutes |
| Format | 35mm 2.35 Dolby SR |
| Actors | Catherine Deneuve Rabih Mroué |
| Directors | Joana Hadjithomas et Khalil Joreige |
| Images | Julien Hirsch |
| Sound | Guillaume Le Braz Sylvain Malbrant Emmanuel Croset |
| Editing | Enrica Gatolini |
| Editing consultor | Tina Baz Legal |
| Assistants directors | Wael Deeb Emile Sleilaty |
| Script | Zeina Saab de Melero |
| Production coordinator | Marianne Katra |
| Make up | Mina Malsumura |
| Hairdresser | Jean-Jacques Puchu-Lapeyrade |
| Costume dresser | Nadine Fenianos |
| Still Photo | Patrick Swirc | Nadim Asfar
| Music | Scrambled Eggs – Joseph Ghosn /Discipline |
| Produced by | Edouard Mauriat Anne-Cécile Berthomeau Farès Ladjimi (Mille et une productions – France) Georges Schoucair (Abbout productions – Lebanon) Tony Arnoux |
| In association with | COFICUP 2 – un fonds BACKUP FILMS |
| With the support of | Centre National de la Cinématographie Hubert Bals Fund – International Film Festival Rotterdam Banque Libano-Française CMA-CGM |
| With the participation of | Abbas Jaber Edmond Asseily and Ziad Abdelnour Fondation Groupama Gan pour le cinéma |
- Directors note
“On July 2006, during the war with Israel that broke out in Lebanon, we were stuck in Paris. For the first time, we were living the war at a distance, as spectators. The war was a real upheaval.
It wasn’t just any war, or one more war. By plunging us again in a cycle of violence it crowned an historic evolution and was part of a more global division of the world, made more radical by 9/11. Beyond the conflict as such, the 2006 war deepened the unrest in Lebanon, the internal tensions, the antagonist projects splitting the population. Once again, we were confronted with the difficulty of having to live side by side.
We badly wanted to do a film on this war but we were full of questions : In the face of a very violent war, of the spectacular images of television, what kind of images could we produce?
What can cinema do in such situations of extreme violence ? We decided to ask this question in a direct way, to introduce fiction by way of a cinema icon, in a situation which seems to admit only a flood of images hastily termed real or documentary.
Suggest to Catherine Deneuve, an actress we greatly admire and who, through her choices, represents Cinema, to drive till the border of South Lebanon together with Rabih Mroué, an artist and actor with whom we work constantly. The idea seemed close to alchemy. In such a context, what would their meeting produce? What emotion could arise? Would we be able to “show again” images of ruins and despear and make people react to it ? Would we be able to “see again” ?
- screening
- Cannes Film Festival, Official Selection – Un Certain Regard (France)
- Paris Cinéma (France)
- Toronto International Film Festival (Canada)
- Festival International du Film Francophone, Namur (Belgium)
- Antalya International Film Festival (Turkey)
- Ayam Beyrouth al cinamaiya (Lebanon)
- Gijón International Film Festival (Spain)
- Filmex International Film Festival (Japan)
- Französischen Filmtagen Tübingen (Germany)
- Dubai International Film Festival (United Arab Emirates)
- The countende, MOMA, New York (United States)
- Rotterdam International Film festival(Netherlands)
- Goteborg International Film Festival (Sweden)
- Bafici Buenos Aires (Argentina)
- Belgrade International Film Festival (Serbia)
- Sao Paolo International Film Festival (Brazil)
- Shashat’s 4th Women’s Film Festival (Ramallah)
- Instituto di valencia (Spain)
- Centro Galego de Artes da Imaxe (Spain)
- Stadtkino wien (Austria)
- Institut Français de Rabat (Morocco)
- Semaine du documentaire de Fès (France)
- Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (Argentina)
- Visions du réel Nyon (Switzerland)
- Miami Film Festival (United States)
- Tiburon International Film Festival (United States)
- Rome Film Festival, “Printemps du cinéma français” (Italy)
RELEASED IN
Lebanon : MADistribution France : Sheyllac Belgium: Les films de l’Elysée Canada: Film Option Portugal : Clap Filmes Russia : A-One Films Spain : Piramide Films United Kingdom : Soda Pictures
AWARDS
• Gijón International Film Festival, Spain – Non-fiction and Documentary Award • International Film Festival WATCH DOCS. Human Rights in Film, Warsaw, Poland – Special Jury Mention • Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma et des Films de Télévision, Paris, France – Best Singular Film Prize
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