For the first time, Scenario Foundation, which specializes in participatory theater, will participate in a film festival for a documentary film it produced entitled “That.”
This participation will be attended at the “Lebanese Independent Film Festival.” The festival will be held from September 21 to 24 in Beirut. The film will compete for the best local feature documentary award.
The film “That” participates in a Lebanese and a British festival (Myriam Geagea)
The story of the film tells the story of 5 women who share their experiences in the midst of the successive crises that Lebanon is experiencing. Within a tape signed by director Myriam Geagea, his scenes follow the stories of “Tima, Najah, Fatima, Fidaa, and Rania.” It learns about the experience that the heroines lived during an artistic residency in the mountains outside Beirut. There they decide to write a play inspired by their daily experiences. The viewer meets them as women struggling against difficulties for their rights.
This film is expected to participate alongside “Lebanese Independent Films” at the Cambridge Film Festival in London. This allows the scenario to give a vivid picture of a model of Arab women and their overcoming of the personal challenges they face, which makes this tape, which Geagea presents as her first cinematic experience, a living testimony to the transformative power that art brings about for self-expression.
A 56-minute scene from the movie “That” (Myriam Geagea)
The participants in the film consist of 3 different nationalities: two of them are from Lebanon, two others are refugees from Syria, while the fifth is an Ethiopian woman who holds Lebanese citizenship.
Director Myriam Geagea tells Asharq Al-Awsat how this film was born: “The five women were conducting an artistic workshop in the Hammana Art House. There we came up with the idea to film them while they were rehearsing a play they were preparing for.”
Geagea captured scenes of the five women, ranging from their artistic and acting exercises to how they developed ideas for the play they intend to present. “It had the same title as the movie Today (That).
In order to provide these shots that we took in (Hammana Art House) with privacy suitable for a documentary film, we decided to film each of them in her home. There, Fatima, Tima, Najah, Fidaa, and Rania began sharing their experiences and the daily challenges they face. He wrote a documentary film script at the required level.”
Far from pretending and acting, each of the five women sat in front of Myriam Geagea’s camera, talking about her thoughts, concerns, and concerns. The main themes of their stories ranged from belonging to the homeland and identity. They interpret the loss in which they live, searching for land, stability and safety.
Tima is an Ethiopian woman who suffered greatly from how she was treated in Lebanon (Myriam Geagea)
“What unites these women is the similarity of their life experiences.” Miriam explains to Asharq Al-Awsat. She continues: “The two Syrian women live in a refugee camp after fleeing the war in their countries. They feel lost and do not feel a sense of belonging to the land on which they live.
As for the Lebanese women (Rania and Fatima), they lived a different experience in an orphanage. In turn, they transferred their memories there, where she photographed them. As for the Ethiopian woman, in pictures I took of her on the public road and in a taxi, she tells us about the different treatment she receives from people. Even though she obtained Lebanese citizenship after marrying a Lebanese man, she suffers from discrimination from others in ways that lack humanity.
Myriam says that the mere participation of the film in the “Lebanese Independent” festival makes her satisfied. “I consider this a win for the film, and it motivates me to present other films in this scope. I do not expect the film to win or fail, but rather I will wait for people’s reactions and watch the features of their faces when it ends. From it, I will find out the extent to which they are affected by its content and whether the Cambridge Film Festival goers will also like it. After all the effort we incurred to implement it, I feel truly satisfied that he is participating in two festivals, one Lebanese and the other British.”
Myriam Geagea behind the scenes of filming the movie (Myriam Geagea)
Myriam did not face any difficulties during the film “That”. She believes that this experience has gained her a lot on the professional and humanitarian levels. “It was an experience rich in human relationships, as it was not limited to cooperation between a director and female protagonists. Indeed, it carried within it many positive aspects from which both parties learned many lessons. Personally, I was provided with a comprehensive experience that opened my mind to different things that allowed me to advance my ideas to the better.”
Myriam concludes by saying that the five women carried out their mission to the fullest extent. They were truly living female role models who represented many other women. “They are not actresses and they do not care about fame, the camera and the spotlight. We were united and searching for what would shade their hearts with serenity and peace. Every project I undertake has its own merits and aspects that reflect positively on me personally. The film “That” also provided me with a unique experience that I will never forget.”
