Rita Al-Hajj The unprecedented economic crisis that Lebanon is witnessing has exacerbated the suffering of many elderly artists, as, due to the decline in their income, they are unable to cover the cost of their treatment if they fall ill, similar to what happened recently with Fadi Ibrahim, one of the most prominent faces of the small screen.
The health of the Lebanese actor Fadi Ibrahim preoccupied artistic circles and social media networks after his leg was amputated as a result of complications from his diabetes, and a wide wave of popular and artistic sympathy arose for him, manifested in a great demand to contribute to a fundraising campaign launched by the Syndicate of Theater, Cinema, Radio and Television Actors in Lebanon to complete his expensive treatment. .
Captain Nima Badawi noted in an interview with Agence France-Presse that “the solidarity of the actors was remarkable” with Ibrahim, who starred in dozens of local series, the most famous of which was “The Storm Blows Twice” about three decades ago, all the way to “For Death 2” recently. He said that “artists, producers, and television station owners stood by” the actor, who periodically undergoes dialysis sessions.
Badawi announced the cessation of receiving donations after “the Ministry of Health sponsors dialysis treatment,” explaining that contributions “from institutions and friends” will finance any additional treatments that the sixty-year-old actor may need, after the cost of his hospitalization exceeded the ceiling of the insurance contract.
“Crisis of dignity”
The case of Fadi Ibrahim prompted the union council to take a decision to establish a health support fund, “which colleagues will feed by donating within their capabilities,” Badawi said.
Badawi’s office in Beirut has recently become a clinic “in which a group of doctors from multiple specialties take turns providing examinations to artists for free,” and it also secures lost medications.
While several voices were raised criticizing the government’s failure to provide support to the actors in covering their health expenses, the Lebanese Minister of Culture, Muhammad Wissam Al-Murtada, told Agence France-Presse that the legislation “does not assign this role to the Ministry of Culture.” Pointing out that the ministry “arranged something” for Fadi Ibrahim, he added, “We are concerned with this aspect morally, not functionally.”
He noted that “those who cannot provide the necessary health care are experiencing a crisis of dignity,” stressing that “the Ministry of Culture is trying, in these difficult circumstances, to play a role in preserving the artist’s dignity.”
The situation of Fadi Ibrahim and his inability to secure the expenses of his treatment is the case of many other actors who suffer from destitution as a result of not obtaining any roles that would allow them to secure a living, whether due to the decline in productions due to the economic crisis, or the lack of demand for them due to their advanced age, at a time when there is still Lebanese deposits are held in banks.
Among the approximately 700 artists affiliated with the Actors Syndicate, there is “a percentage ranging between 15 and 20 percent without work, and between 100 and 150 actors of advanced age whose services have been abandoned by producers and who are left without resources,” Badawi revealed.
The “Takreem” Foundation recently held a party, the proceeds of which were allocated to “about a hundred Lebanese actors who live below the poverty line” as their fame declines and they age, according to what the head of the non-governmental organization, the Lebanese journalist Ricardo Karam, told Agence France-Presse. He explained that this reality is due to “a significant decline in the television industry and production.”
The “icon” in a chalet
Badawi regretted that “production is almost absent on Lebanese television stations,” which number eight, even though they are “obligated according to the audiovisual media law to produce one or two local series annually.” He stressed the necessity of “implementing the law so that no actor remains at home.”
He said, “Whoever watches some Lebanese stations feels that he is in Istanbul,” commenting on the dominance of dubbed Turkish works on these screens, instead of focusing on local production.
Badawi was surprised by the “exclusion of elderly actors” from existing local productions, calling on producers to provide “job opportunities” for members of the union that would ensure “continuity.”
Among these, for example, is the octogenarian director and actor Fouad Sharaf al-Din, who was recently honored by awarding him the “Icon of Lebanese Cinema” shield. He is currently “unemployed” and in “the worst living condition,” as he lives “in a small chalet,” and has not renewed his contract for years. With the insurance company, he told AFP.
In a tone mixed with pain, Sharaf El-Din, who was famous for his roles in action films in the 1970s and 1980s, noted that those who have no other source of livelihood other than art “will end up unable to secure their treatment expenses and wait for donations.” Even “sometimes the actor cannot pay his membership fee in the union.”
The Unified Mutual Fund for Artists, which was created by a law issued in 2008 and whose work was regulated by a decree in 2012, was supposed to constitute a solution that provides support for artists, including actors, as it is similar to a “cooperative for employees,” according to Badawi, and provides a retirement pension, death and marriage grants, and social assistance, and undertakes Covering half the price of the health insurance policy for the artist and his family.
This fund includes members of eight artistic unions and is financed by collecting a tax fee on contracts with foreign artists who perform concerts in Lebanon and another on the value of tickets sold for concerts and performances of artistic works.
However, the series of difficult circumstances that Lebanon has witnessed since the protest movements in 2019, including the collapse of the value of the Lebanese pound, the economic crisis, and the Covid pandemic, “negatively affected the festival movement,” and subsequently limited the fund’s nutrition.
Badawi said, “The fund was providing social assistance to those over eighty worth 300,000 Lebanese pounds, which was equivalent to 200 US dollars before the crisis, but its value is now three dollars.”
With the improvement of collection again and the increase in the subscription allowance, the value of the aid was raised to two million Lebanese pounds, while the union seeks to provide greater support for actors who are unable to bear the cost of health insurance.
