Video Works, a workshop for 11 emerging Lebanese artists to produce new video works that were presented as part of VidéoAvril festival in Beirut April 2007.
In 2006, the Ashkal Alwan Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts concentrated its efforts on supporting the production of video work by young artists who have little access to support necessary to pursue their research in the medium of video.
Video Works involved the production of videos by emerging cultural practitioners whose voices are a vital component of the cultural fabric in Lebanon. From 2008 onwards, Video Works is set to become an annual international event presenting new works by young video makers. The Video Works production workshop was coordinated by filmmaker and video artist Ghassan Salhab.
The following videos were produced and screened as part of the Video Works project:
That ‘Other’ City Anthony Abou Khalifé A man, obsessed by the idea that a disaster is about to hit Beirut, wanders around the city planting security cameras to monitor it. Somewhere along the thin line separating his paranoia from the actual run of events, he starts believing that he was sent to save and protect the city. [Video, 30 minutes, Arabic with English subtitles]Ghosts Have No Shadow Malek Anouti In the space where I roam, a rectangular glass mutely reflects bodies and mouths, colours and shapes, animals and beasts. I apologize for the silence, even if I had once declared that silence retains another meaning. [Video, 25 minutes, Arabic & English versions]
Slippage Ali Cherri The moment the city spills its guts, the time has come to abandon it, for it will no longer hold places that can cloak us. [Video, 12 minutes, Arabic and English]
210 Meters Ahmad Ghosien Height of the man: 187 cm His average velocity when walking: 1.4m per second Distance walked: 210 m Δt = 150 seconds The time needed for the man, 187 cm tall, to cross from one side of the street to the other is 150 seconds. [Video, 10 minutes, Arabic with English subtitles]
As I Recall Rima Kaddissi What Jaap Pieters told me of Hussein and Ahmad Shaaban constructs a possible reality. What Ahmad tells me could also fit in this possible narrative. While recounting their memory(ies), the reality(ies) start to twist and alter. Stories people tell me are difficult for me to recall and repeat. [Video, 13 minutes, Arabic & English with English & Arabic subtitles]
Raafat Al Hajjan the Third Ali Kays The illusion of the return to paradise is a striking artifice of life. The more dead there are in paradise, the more the illusion dies. The revivification of Raafat Al Hajjan the Third was a futile act. That is, he fell under the charm of the same foreseen illusion. In fact, he enjoys his disguise and nothing will prevent him from wanting to return to paradise. [Video, 14 minutes, Arabic with English subtitles]
Brain Cells Rania Rafei The light of a TV screen penetrates my brain cells. The image imprints itself on my eye. I try to save myself from brain damage...with a dance. [Video, 14 minutes]
Schluss the Warrior Ziad Saad This is the story of Shluss the Warrior who asked to be dematerialized. He ended up in heaven, transformed into an Image. [Video, 4 minutes]
2mg of Rotten Blood on Pure White Snow Rami Sabbagh In the mid '80s in Beirut, the city is at war. A group of young men wearing neat black clothing wander around it by night. They occupy empty houses for a few hours and gather what they can of the furniture. In the darkness of the night, they move the goods to the mountains and sell them back to their owners. Each night after midnight, the young men meet in an empty movie theatre. There they watch films, smoke cigarettes, discuss cinema, and receive orders from an old man. “I have one thing to tell you: one of these days I am going to cut myself into dear little frames, feed them into a live transmission. Alive again.” [Video, 25 minutes, Arabic with English subtitles]
Please Rewind Me Later Roy Samaha This project is intended as a way to investigate one’s own past. It reconnects childhood homes, dreams and VHS tapes to form a body that remembers. How to make a self-portrait without giving in to the clichés of historical archiving? “Make a map, not a tracing” (Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari). [Video, 33 minutes, Arabic with English subtitles]
Affinity Corine Shawi I seek closeness just short of intimacy. I dwell in this liminal space, taking pleasure in writing myself into a melancholy fiction. [Video, 30 minutes, Arabic with English subtitles]