Ajyal Film Festival 2023

All Films

The Lebanese Rocket Society (The Lebanese Rocket Society)

Arab Feature Film Competition

للترجمة العربية اضغط على

Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige / Feature Documentary / Lebanon, France, Qatar / 2012 / 95 min / Colour / HDCAM
In Arabic, English, French / Arabic, English subtitles
Interests: Documentary, Politics, History, Based on a True Story
MENA Premiere

Synopsis

When filmmakers Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige inadvertently discovered that their native Lebanon launched the first rocket in the Middle East in the 60s, and that the nation was immensely proud of its involvement in the international race to conquer the last frontier, they were surprised and intrigued. Why had such a significant episode in Lebanon’s history been altogether erased from the collective memory? Interviewing scientists, professors and army authorities involved in the development of the rocket project, the directors uncover a dream of future glory that was halted and silenced by international pressure following the Arab-Israeli military conflict of 1967. In bringing this exciting chapter of Lebanese history to light, Hadjithomas and Joreige’s film reflects the reawakening of the hopes and dreams of the peoples of the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Official Film Website

About the Directors

Born within a month of one another in Beirut in 1969, fellow students at Paris Nanterre and partners in film and video art since the late 90s, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige made their joint feature debut in 1999 with ‘The Pink House’. Their last film, ‘I Want to See’ (2008), which followed Catherine Deneuve on a car trip through Lebanon’s war zones, screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and won the top prize at Gijon in the same year.

Credits

Director
Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige
Screenwriter
Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige
Producer
Edouard Mauriat, Georges Schoucair
Editor
Tina Baz
Music
Nadim Mishlawi, Scrambled Eggs, Discipline
Cinematographer
Jeanne Lapoirie
Cast
Manoug Manougian, John Markarian, General Youssef Wehbé, Harry Koundakjian, Joseph Sfeir, Hampar Karageozian

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