CYRIL: I know, challenges compiling over the span of just a few years. You do a lot of work in queer cinema, I work in queer cinema as well,  I know the challenges that we’re already facing, and then the external factors come in. Take Joey’s story for example, you really see how the ripple of something that’s happening kilometers away can affect someone on such an intimate level. He had to hide a part of his identity for 36 days, he calls the invasion pinkwashing, and how he went along with it. What was the greatest challenge you faced while filming this?

OMAR: I think the most challenging part was speaking about a topic this complex—one that’s being showcased to Western audiences—while still being honest for us. لأنو this is not a self-funded project that I felt like doing. This is a documentary for ARTE, so I felt a responsibility knowing that this narrative is being translated for the West. 

What has happened politically and how the West has shaped our narratives— and the hypocrisy that it has played in the war, and in how the media covered it— I felt that it was finally my turn to show a narrative that represents us. Even if it’s mostly reaching their audience, at the very least, I want them to see a narrative that they don’t know about. 

That was the biggest challenge. On one hand, I have a big responsibility to speak about something that’s so fresh and so complex, something that we haven’t digested yet, and try to tell it in a way that’s as multi-layered and authentic as I can be in the representation. This documentary is both a window to Lebanon, and to me as an activist and an authentic filmmaker. I want them to see something that is real, something that reflects us more than the propaganda or shallow, informational coverage that they are receiving.

CYRIL: You showed up to the challenge really well, especially in how you captured the streets, the daily life of the Lebanese. One example that stood out was the scene with the three generations of women; Ruwan, her mother, and grandmother. I’m referring to that intimate scene where each of them speaks about the war of their generation. This is our reality, this is what we inherit as Lebanese people. And although it’s sad, the way you portrayed it was so beautiful and multi-layered. A question for the filmmakers: what lenses were you using?

OMAR: Honestly you have to ask the DOP hahaha—the lenses are an additional technical thing. For me, what is most important is in the frame itself, because this is what conveys the emotions and the stories. As for the lenses, they of course have an important additional value because they film things in a way that resembles the vision that I want. I focused on using lenses that zoom in on the people— that are close to people. I didn’t use many wide angles unless I was filming the destruction of outdoor spaces. I focused as much as I could on faces, on emotions, on intimate spaces, and all of that happened through the use of portrait lenses mostly.