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Mike Massy’s short film, Are You Still There?, is a poignant exploration into the cataclysmic event of August 4, 2020, which is viewed through the lens of a fractured Lebanese psyche. This 10-minute and 36-second visual representation immerses the audience in a hazy abyss, where time stands frozen at 6:08 p.m., and a disturbed population is left questioning their existence: “Are you still there?”
The film, presented by Film Atelier, showcases Mike Massy’s triple talents as director, actor, and composer, alongside the performance of Ré-Mi Bendali. The ensemble cast further includes Séverine Parent, Georgette Sammour, Romaine El Massih, and Nizar Massouh, with Sary Asmar, the director of photography, masterfully capturing the scenes. The cinematography intertwines with Mike Massy’s original music, blending past and present with archival footage from Télé Liban’s collection from the 1960s to the 1980s, and unsettling, spontaneous dialogues stimulated by post-traumatic responses.
Are You Still There? engenders a deep silence from the audience, a stillness that precedes verbal expressions or tearful releases, or perhaps evokes an echoing emptiness. This uneasiness revolves around repressed traumas and suspended emotions, a maelstrom of melancholy, tied intrinsically to the tragic topography of Beirut, a city bearing infinite scars. Ré-Mi’s song resurfaces from the past, serving as a unifying anthem for the Lebanese people, a soundtrack to the survival and resilience that permeates the Lebanese tale. Through Mike Massy’s film, we are transported back to the day of the horrific port explosion, caught in a dilemma between staying within the sorrowful restrains of Beirut or seeking escape. A lingering pain persists and lessens our vitality, while amplifying the weight of being. In this overwhelming context, even the sound of ambulance sirens is woven into our reminiscences, becoming as much a part of our lives as the fond memories of childhood celebrations.
Overlapping the line between fiction and reality, this cinematic experience delves into a collective consciousness spoiled by ruin. “Are You Still There?” is a docu-fiction that allows viewers to revisit the catastrophic events of August 4, manifesting in a blunt portrayal of raw truths. Mike Massy, the empathetic observer and actor, projects himself as an ‘interpreter’, lending his voice to the unheard and amplifying the importance of memory, even when it lies fractured amidst collective amnesia.
Are we survivors, or are we born dead? The question echoes through the narrative. Ré-Mi Bendali’s voice, reaching us from distant Canada, promises Mike Massy – and perhaps the audience too –, that she will still be there… and that hope for a better future exists. Her dialogue with Mike, uncensored voice messages, resonates with deep-rooted emotions. “Add el baher bhebbak” (I love you, just like the boundless love of the sea).
In a single on-camera appearance, Mike Massy verbalizes the overwhelming silent rage that we harbor within ourselves. “Are You Still There?” embodies everything: from childhood to destruction, guilt, and fear. Mike Massy assembles a rough film that resonates with the rhythm of childhood and trauma. In the dual role of director and actor, he immerses the viewer in a maelstrom of introspection, revisiting lost childhood and echoing memories.
And amidst it all, a constant reminder of resilience persists.
And Ré-Mi’s voice.
“Are you still there?”
To watch the film, click here.
Marie-Christine Tayah
Instagram : @mariechristine.tayah