Beirut Echoes: talks & documentary on Lebanon

On Saturday 13 November, Bozar and the Mahmoud Darwish Chair organize a series of debates and encounters that shed light on the city from a new angle. Lebanese writers and thinkers will engage in a dialogue about the future and richness of their culture with colleagues from Belgium and France. Attention is paid to both the political situation and the flourishing literary scene. Even the famous Lebanese cuisine will be discussed.

Program:

18:00 Letter from Beirut (FR-LB,1978,52): screening of the film by Jocelyne ​​​​​​​Saab

18:45 Break

19:00 Literary engagement in face of politics: meeting with Elias Khoury and Ziad Majed, moderated by Safia Kessas

19:30 Writing the self as a language for others: literary meeting with Dima Abdallah, Katia Al Tawil, moderated by Leila Shahid

20:00 Break

20:15 Culinary art as a weapon: meeting with Farouk Mardam Bey and Ryoko Sekiguchi, moderated by Safia Kessas

20:45 Sorority as hope: slam by Dima Matta and Samira Saleh. A tribute to Etel Adnan and Jocelyne Saab

​​​​​​​21:30 End

Letter from Beirut (FR-LB,1978,52): screening of the film by Jocelyne​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​Saab
Three years after the beginning of the civil war in Lebanon, Jocelyne Saab returns to a Beirut that has irrevocably changed, where she wanders the streets, rides buses, chats with refugees and peacekeepers, and reflects on the war’s toll during a brief moment of peace.

Jocelyne Saab (1948-2019) was born and raised in Beirut. After completing her studies in economic sciences at the Sorbonne in Paris, Saab worked on a music program for the national Lebanese radio station before being invited by poet and artist Etel Adnan to work as a journalist. Unlike most war reporters, who must travel to war zones to pursue their profession, war came to Saab’s native Lebanon in 1975, and that same year saw the beginning of Saab’s filmmaking career with Lebanon in Torment, an account of the various forces and interests behind the incipient conflict.