Jocelyne Saab (1948-2019) was a reporter, photographer, scriptwriter, producer, director, artist and founder of the Cultural Resistance International Film Festival of Lebanon. A tireless advocate for the power of the moving image to document the struggles of marginalized people’s, Saab’s work is noted for its visual political analysis, and she has, over time, been understood to be a major proponent and inspiration for various archival initiatives in the contemporary art world. Included here are two notable earlier works featuring her keen eye: Beirut, Never Again (1976), and Egypt, City of the Dead (1977).

Beyrouth, jamais plus / Beirut, Never Again
Lebanon, 1976
English - 35 min

Perhaps the first film in Saab’s oeuvre to move away from straight-ahead journalistic overtones or television reportage, Beirut, Never Again is a heartfelt letter to a war-torn city. Told in an elegiac style, the film was shot during a period in the war when hostilities had momentarily ceased, and people were attempting to reconstruct their lives, however perilously. Accompanied by a voiceover from poet Etel Adnan, different individuals share their experience of suffering and alienation, to devastating effect.

Égypte, Cité des morts / City of the Dead
Lebanon, 1977
Arabic - 35 min

In this revealing early documentary from Jocelyne Saab, the filmmaker travels to Egypt to paint a portrait of Cairo, the so-called “Mother of the World.” She searches for answers there, while her home city, Beirut, falls into ruins and turmoil. She attempts to find some sense of rootedness in The City of the Dead, but she soon realizes that the community’s way of life and their traditions are disappearing, too, under the steady sway of rapid globalization.

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