https://www.thevillagedocumentary.com/home daily 0.75 2021-07-09 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60c743b1fa2fbd6a12c9a312/t/60c74b7e6c6c94332845eace/1625830398111/ Home - About The Director In 2014, I started filming the oldest residents of Roumieh, my village in the hills overlooking Beirut, as an archival project to ensure that their stories are never forgotten. I never got to meet most of my grandparents, save for my Teta Julie, who was an amazing storyteller and taught me so much about what life was like in Lebanon in the late 19th and 20th centuries. I regretted not capturing her stories on film for posterity, and decided I wanted to capture the stories of her peers before it was too late: they carry in their memories a way of life that is disappearing, and I thought it important to immortalize this oral history for the sake of my generation and future generations. I would spend days, sometimes weeks, in their company, following their daily routines in the hope of transmitting the most authentic account of how they lived their lives. I had no intention of of making a movie out of it. But every time I would spend hours and days with one of these amazing individuals, they would invariably ask me when they could see the movie. I became convinced that I owed it to them to compile the 50+ hours of footage into a film that celebrates the incredible lives these most valued citizens have lived. In making The Village, I wanted to ensure that their stories and memories would not be forgotten by our generations. They fought hard to build our community, faced terrible adversity and moments of great joy and celebration, and did so together. Today, as my country, Lebanon, goes through an existential crisis that threatens the very fabric of what our forebears have built, I find comfort in reliving the lives of our elders, a reminder that through community and with time, no challenge is insurmountable. https://www.thevillagedocumentary.com/english daily 1.0 2021-10-25 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60c743b1fa2fbd6a12c9a312/t/611f6c3580daaa03e8ff14dc/1629450475355/image.png The Village | A Documentary Report on LBCI: قصص وذكريات رومية على لسان كبار السن https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60c743b1fa2fbd6a12c9a312/t/60f023064063550b157dffa8/1626352632149/Tania+Khalaf.jpg The Village | A Documentary - About The Director In 2014, I started filming the oldest residents of Roumieh, my village in the hills overlooking Beirut, as an archival project to ensure that their stories are never forgotten. I never got to meet most of my grandparents, save for my Teta Julie, who was an amazing storyteller and taught me so much about what life was like in Lebanon in the late 19th and 20th centuries. I regretted not capturing her stories on film for posterity, and decided I wanted to capture the stories of her peers before it was too late: they carry in their memories a way of life that is disappearing, and I thought it important to immortalize this oral history for the sake of my generation and future generations. I would spend days, sometimes weeks, in their company, following their daily routines in the hope of transmitting the most authentic account of how they lived their lives. I had no intention of making a movie out of it. But every time I would spend hours and days with one of these amazing individuals, they would invariably ask me when they could see the movie. I became convinced that I owed it to them to compile the 70+ hours of footage into a film that celebrates the incredible lives these most valued citizens have lived. In making The Village, I wanted to ensure that their stories and memories would not be forgotten by our generations. They fought hard to build our community, faced terrible adversity and moments of great joy and celebration, and did so together. Today, as my country, Lebanon, goes through an existential crisis that threatens the very fabric of what our forebears have built, I find comfort in reliving the lives of our elders, a reminder that through community and with time, no challenge is insurmountable. https://www.thevillagedocumentary.com/arabic daily 0.75 2021-10-25 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60c743b1fa2fbd6a12c9a312/t/611f6faa1ea8426f27c8065c/1629450242180/image.png الضيعة | فيلم وثائقي LBCI تقرير قصص وذكريات رومية على لسان كبار السن https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60c743b1fa2fbd6a12c9a312/t/60fe9b7ab7e08e14f2296e0b/1626352632149/Tania+Khalaf.jpg الضيعة | فيلم وثائقي - عن تانيا عام 2014، بدأتُ بتصوير أقدم سُكّان قريتي روميه التي تقع في الجبال المُطلّة على بيروت، وذلك بهدف تنفيذ مشروع أرشيفيّ يُخلّد قصصهم إلى الأبد لم تتسنَّ لي أبدًا مُقابلة مُعظم أجدادي، باستثناء "تيتا جولي" التي كانت حكواتيّة رائعة، وقد أخبرتني الكثير عن الحياة في لبنان في أواخر القرن التاسع عشر والقرن العشرين ندمتُ أنّني لم أُصوّر قصصها وأجمعْها في فيلم يحفظُها للأجيال القادمة، ولكنّني قرّرتُ تصوير قصص أقرانِها قبل فوات الأوان، فذكرياتُهم تحمل في طّياتها أسلوب حياة بدأ يختفي، وأعتقد أنّه من المُهم تخليد هذا التاريخ ليراهُ جيلي والأجيال القادمة كُنت أُرافقهُم لأيّام، وأحيانًا لأسابيع، وكُنت أُتابع روتين حياتِهم اليوميّ على أمل نقلِ طرق عيشِهم بأكثر الطرق أصالةً ووضوحًا لم يكُن لديّ نيّة بتحويل هذه الذّكريات إلى فيلم، ولكنّني في كُلّ مرّة كُنت أقضي فيها ساعات وأيّامًا مع أيّ من هؤلاء الأشخاص الرائعين، كانوا دائمًا يسألونني متى يُمكنهُم مُشاهدة الفيلم ومع الوقت، أصبحت لديّ قناعة بأنّني مدينة لهم بتحويل اللقطات التي تتجاوز مُدّتها السبعين ساعة إلى فيلمٍ نحتفل فيه بالحياة الرائعة التي عاشها هؤلاء السُكّان المحبوبون إنّ هدفي من صنع فيلم الضيعة هو ضمان عدم نسيان أجيالنا قصص هؤلاء الأشخاص وذكرياتهم، فقد ناضلوا كثيرًا لبناء مُجتمعنا، وواجهوا محنًا شديدة تُقابلها لحظات من الفرح والاحتفال، وكانوا يدًا واحدة في السرّاء والضرّاء واليوم، وبينما يمرّ بلدي لُبنان بأزمة وجوديّة تُهدد النسيج الاجتماعي الذي أسّس له أسلافُنا، أجد راحتي في إعادة إحياء ذكريات أجدادنا، لتكون تذكيرًا بأنّه من خلال تضامن المُجتمع ومرور الوقت، يُمكننا التغلّب على التحدّيات مهما كانت