Perhaps What I Fear Does Not Exist
Spring Grants 2019
Corine Shawi / Feature Documentary / Lebanon, Qatar / 70 min / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Biography, Creative Documentary
Synopsis
“I can’t believe this is happening”, I said to myself when my father’s body failed unexpectedly, two years ago. Who would have known that he would end up being paraplegic after all this time? We were living a life we could call normal before it proved us wrong. The hospital rooms became our new home where we could cook, live, sleep and gather with the few remaining friends and the family members. My mother, a long-time believer, prays to God and the saints wishing desperately for a change in the situation. When nothing seems to go right, we try to call for a miracle. With my camera, I follow my mother in her perpetual prayers, by questioning her faith and what is keeping her going. I film to try to accept what life put us through, to understand the weakness of the body, its complexity and how it can affect the soul. If the body fails to move, does the soul cease as well? Will my father’s strong hopes help him move again? Through my lens, I explore the human condition and the power of faith while observing a daily struggle become an ordinary way of living.
Credits
- Director
- Corine Shawi
- Screenwriter
- Corine Shawi
- Producer
- Myriam Sassine
About the Director
Corine Shawi is a Lebanese filmmaker whose journey began at age 14 when she started filming her first feature documentary, 'Les Femmes Bonnes'. Her films reflect her fascination with unique human connections and psychological dimensions, among them 'Oxygen' (2007), 'Affinity' (2007), and 'Film of Welcome and Farewells' (2009), which premiered at the opening of Écrans du Réel festival in Lebanon. 'I Love You Forever' (2010) made its debut at CPH:DOX, while her feature 'E muet' (2013) premiered at FID Marseille's International Competition. Her latest documentary, 'Perhaps What I Fear Does Not Exist' (2022), chronicles a four-year journey seeking absolution for a broken family while helping her father walk again. The film premiered at Dok Leipzig international competition and won Best Documentary at the Cinema Columbus Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize at Fidadoc. Beyond filmmaking, Shawi teaches at Saint Joseph University in Beirut and has co-created TAABIR Film Expression Workshops, conducted across Lebanon since 2022.