A Lover's Manifesto
Fall Grants 2024 - Production Stage
Alfred Tarazi / Feature Experimental or Essay / Lebanon, Qatar / 300 min / Original Language: Arabic, English / Interests: Documentary
Synopsis
“‘A Lover’s Manifesto’ is a history of Beirut, spanning from its inception as a modern city in 1860 to its invasion by the Israeli army in 1982. Through a collection of historical narratives, the film recreates the complex history of a city that stood at the vanguard of Arab modernity. As the narration unfolds, we follow the birth and demise of two phenomena that have shaped this city: Personal Liberation and the Palestinian Revolution. This is achieved by tracing the lives of two characters, Georgina Rizk and Ali Hasan Salameh.
Through the intertwined destinies of these two popular legends, the film explores the profound changes these movements have had on both the local and global stage. As the story develops, it examines how these two movements created vivid imaginaries, paving the way for the transgressions of the Lebanese Civil War. We ultimately follow how, in the context of this war, the ideas to liberate land and body were demised by the obscenities of flesh and war. ”
Credits
- Director
- Alfred Tarazi
- Screenwriter
- Alfred Tarazi
- Producer
- Alfred Tarazi
- Production Company
- Studio Tarazi
About the Director
Alfred Tarazi is a Beirut-based artist whose explorations of his city’s history have made him an impromptu archivist, dedicated to preserving the endangered remnants of Arab modernity in the realms of print, cinema, and music. His archival practice informs a body of work that examines the influence of popular culture on history through the interplay of images and sounds. Working across a range of media, Tarazi’s creations delve into the historical complexities of the Lebanese Civil War, a subject he describes as the ultimate event horizon. By intertwining the political with the personal, he establishes a laboratory for investigating the construction of memory and identity. ‘A Lover’s Manifesto’ is Tarazi’s first film, the culmination of a decade of research, collecting, and compositing.