Diaries from Lebanon

Production year: 2024
Country: Lebanon
Director: Myriam El Hajj
Producer: Myriam Sassine

In the spring of 2018, 48-year-old feminist activist Joumana Haddad, a figure of civil society, comes within an inch of winning the parliamentary elections but is faced by a corrupted system implemented for decades by the warlords of the past. During a gathering aimed to empower the youth, Joumana meets Perla Joe, a 28-year-old militant who is unable to find her place in this fossilized society and no longer believes in institutions. In October 2019, a revolution breaks out and Perla Joe becomes one of its lead representatives, the voice of a breathless people. While these women strive, 75-year-old Georges hasn’t fought for a long time. This former militiaman participated in the Civil War, hoping to save the nation. He was even involved in the incident that sparked the war on April 13, 1975. Georges–who lost a leg but not his illusions of ‘glory’–lives surrounded by chimeras and ghosts. These three characters are intimately linked to the history of Lebanon. Their destinies interweave, telling the story of a country that is struggling to get out of its vice. Behind the political battles, individual quests are also taking shape.