45th Parallel

The film unfolds an atmospheric symphony of violence over Beirut, revealing the haunting fusion of incessant Israeli military flights and the hum of generators during blackouts. This 45-minute video essay plunges viewers into a chilling chronicle of daily life transformed by the weaponization of the air, where the terror of repeated incursions becomes a disconcertingly banal backdrop.

Considering himself a reincarnation of a dead soldier, historian Bassel Abi Chahine has the remarkable ability to recall details from the Lebanese civil war, which mostly took place before his lifetime. Standing in front of the projected photographs from his personal collection, Abi Chahine embodies the suppressed trauma hidden to his generation.

Lawrence Abu Hamdan finds in a former GDR state radio station a perfect conduit for his ongoing cinematic interrogation of the political dimensions of sound. Centered on a series of court cases that used auditory or sensory evidence based on information gathered through walls, the film is staged within two soundproof booths, in which a live narrator recites witness testimonies while projected text and images create organic superimpositions. It’s an exploration of the fundamental abstractions of seeing and listening.

May 2014: two unarmed Palestinian teens are killed by Israeli soldiers on the West Bank. Abu Hamdan made an audio analysis to ascertain whether rubber or live bullets were used. The film centres on the gunfire, yet no shots are heard. "Rubber Coated Steel" does not preside over the voices of the victims but seeks to amplify their silence, questioning the ways in which rights are being heard today.

In the last four decades, many people have come from Iraq as refugees. In 1991, a division was created between northern Iraq (Kurdistan) and the rest of Iraq. The UN considers Kurdistan a safe zone. As a refugee you have to come from the unsafe zone, or at least prove that you do, in order to qualify to be granted asylum. During the interview for refugee status, an official checks to see whether you really come from the unsafe zone. They ask about small details of the city you claim to come from, and compare your answers to a map to confirm that your answers correspond to it. If you cannot prove that you come from the unsafe zone, you are sent back to your country. This is a story about someone who we can call M. M tried to apply for asylum in one of the Schengen countries. He was not aware that the city he came from was in the safe zone, according to the UN. He was rejected, and was set to be deported back to his country. Then he meets J, a man from the unsafe zone.