MEMORY BOX

  • Joana Hadjithomas Khalil Joreige

Montreal. On Christmas Eve, a package is delivered to the middle-class house where Maia, her mother and her teenage daughter Alex live. A present? While the two women want the parcel to disappear into the cellar as quickly as possible, Alex's curiosity is aroused. She secretly explores the letters from Maia to her friend in exile in Paris, old photos and films. They remind Alex of her mother's youth, her first great love and her painful experiences during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990). Maia's veil of silence slowly begins to lift under her daughter's pressing questions.

Based on a personal story consisting of letters by Joana Hadjithomas and pictures by Khalil Joreige, the film reconstructs the past in different ways: with archive material, Super 8 footage, graphic novel fragments, playful flights of fancy and emotional impressions - mirrored with the cell phone aesthetic of the present. Once again, the filmmakers explore the fragmented evidence of Lebanese history and diaspora. At the end, the directing duo unite their characters in Beirut at a moving celebration - outlining the hope for a possible better future.

  • Joana Hadjithomas

  • Khalil Joreige

REVISION

Philip Scheffner Deutschland 2012

REVISION

FALLING STAR

Lluís Miñarro Spain 2014

FALLING STAR

HÜLLE

Andrea Crisci Switzerland 2021

HÜLLE

MR. LONG

Sabu Japan, Taiwan, Hongkong, Germany 2017

MR. LONG

Sleep With Your Eyes Open

Nele Wohlatz Brazil, Taiwan, Argentina, Germany 2024

Sleep With Your Eyes Open

REQUIEM

Reni Mertens Walter Marti Switzerland 1992

REQUIEM

FABIAN: GOING TO THE DOGS

Dominik Graf Germany 2021

FABIAN: GOING TO THE DOGS

BADEN BADEN

Rachel Lang Belgium, France 2016

BADEN BADEN