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As part of the 4th edition of the Anbar wa Godot Festival for culture and arts, the screening of Zyara episodes, the web-documentary, took place on July 25, 2024, at Beit el-Fan, the house of Adham Dimashki in Beirut. The festival continues until September 19, 2024.
Muriel Aboulrouss, director and cinematographer, and Denise Jabbour, also a creative producer at the Home of Cine-Jam association, combined their efforts, love, and talent to create Zyara, the documentary web series. By portraying brief portraits of different people, depending on the seasons, they focus on the essence of humanity and the core of memory. Zyara‘s 8th season highlights artists and captures their poignant testimonies about Beirut, the city that lives within them: Georgette Gebara, Roger Assaf, Hanane Hajj Ali, Randa Amar, Rifaat Tarabay, Randa Kaadi, Fayek Hmaïssi, Ziad El Ahmadie, Takla Chamoun, Mireille Maalouf, Harout Fazlian, Omaima El Khalil, and Nicolas Daniel, all renowned names in the world of performing arts.
The screening session took place in the living room of Beit el-Fan, the house of Adham Dimashki, welcoming cinema and art lovers with open doors.
What captivates the viewer in these artist portraits goes beyond their person. We watch them, recognizing them through the close-ups of Muriel Aboulrouss’s camera, the light accompanying their testimonies, but also sometimes by the sound of their voice or the poignant noise their memories make. The collective memory of people of their generation recognizes Beirut, the city of the 60s and 70s with crowded theaters, then the silence of deserted streets. War, the queen of an entire generation… From this crying memory, these moments captured in time return to the big screen, imposing themselves on the carelessness or lack of knowledge of the younger ones, like shards of glass or a piece of hot iron.
Beyond these artists’ identity, we get to know the human beings they are. Their testimonies pierce through the projectors and daylight. They share their experiences of people forever wounded by a murderous, devastating war. In their memories, we brush against the glory years of a mother city, then the flip side of the coin: destruction, violence, death.
Yet, these stories do not end with the last clap. They tell of endless bleeding but also an intense desire to live fiercely, obstinately, with open arms. To make theater out of violence, to sing loss, to dance suffering, and despite everything, to stay. To cling to a country, Lebanon. To be rocked by the energy of a city, Beirut. Zyara once again reveals itself as a powerful message of love and humanity, but also of resilience, a word that may seem ambiguous but which gives the strength and courage to stay, and to rebuild a life, because no other port equals the motherland.
Questions to Muriel Aboulrouss and Denise Jabbour
How and why did you choose Beirut as a theme?
The Beirut theme was inspired by the Beryt fund and our love for this city. The fund was created to support art and culture in Beirut, and we chose to honor that theme by empowering and honoring Beirut through the eyes of twelve great artists.
Did you know that it would lead to the sub-themes of war and exile?
Yes, of course, we knew that. We want to honor our wounds with the hope that it would bring or inspire collective healing.
How did you select the artists for this season?
We made a list of many beautiful artists, and the twelve artists who accepted our request to visit them were the ones we featured.
What, in your opinion, makes Zyara an ongoing moving journey?
Zyara probably exists because of the chaos, as a response to death and violence, to loss and grief. Zyara is our way of loving the world.
What does each one of you bring to the project?
Denise Jabbour is the initiator of the project because of her need to connect with others and listen to their stories. Denise is the interviewer and the ears that listen from the heart with love and compassion. Denise is the producer and the co-creator of Zyara’s content. Muriel is the visual artist who intuitively created the Zyara language. She is the one who shoots and directs these macro hypnotic portraits.
What do you particularly cherish along this moving journey?
We cherish the trust people give us and the opportunity Zyara gave us to meet inspiring heroes, to grow within ourselves, to find a purpose where art and life collide beautifully. Zyara took us on a journey we never planned, making it a very spiritual experience for both of us.
