The horrors of the Lebanese Civil War are revisited in Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Vauthier’s cross-generational drama, using Hadjithomas’ own letters and photographs...
Directors: Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige
Starring: Rim Turki, Manal Issa, Paloma Vauthier
Running time: 102 minutes
Similar to their previous cinema and exhibition-based collaborations, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (A Perfect Day, I Want to See) join forces to address the dark legacy of the Civil War and ongoing conflicts of their homeland of Lebanon.
The action begins on Christmas Eve in a snowy present-day Montreal, when a large unforeseen box arrives containing photographs, notebooks, journals and cassettes from France. The items are all memorabilia from Maia (Rim Turki), sent from Beirut to her friend Liza in Paris during the Lebanese Civil War of the 1980s. Afraid of the long-suppressed secrets and painful memories, Maia and her mother Tata (Clemence Sabbagh) forbid Maia’s daughter, Alex (Paloma Vauthier), from viewing the contents of the box.
Despite warnings, of course Alex goes ahead and immerses herself in the material of her family history. Consequently, she learns all about Maia’s teenage years (played in flashbacks by Manal Issa), the turmoil and clashes with her parents, yet also the astounding joy she experienced during a time where there was not only a lack of mobile phones, but there was the background of war - with constant bombings and unsafe militia-run checkpoints.
Memory Box’s closing scene resonates with a literal brightness as the sun rises over Beirut, the city at the centre of the feature
Blurring the line between fiction and documentary, co-director Hadjithomas was inspired by her former communications with a close friend who had moved to France during the Lebanese Civil War. Each month they would swap a box of memories to each other, from the age of thirteen to eighteen years-old. After 25 years, Hadjithomas’ friend returned the correspondence and some of the materials are seen in the film.
Throughout, this different media (digital, analogue and print), along with varying filmic textures (8mm and 16mm footage), inventively provide a potent beauty of archived history. As Maia’s teenage years are framed via Alex’s perspective, the film shows reconciliation between mother and daughter, as well as offering a platform for connection and criticism across three generations. On a personal level, the production process allowed the filmmaker to revisit buried memories and thoughts surrounding the implications of denying or allowing her daughter access to her teenage memories of war.
Alex’s identity becomes more accustomed as a result of her discoveries and reduces her distance from her mother and grandmother’s secrecy. Memory Box’s closing scene resonates with a literal brightness as the sun rises over Beirut, the city at the centre of the feature. With her newfound knowledge, it is up to Alex to utilise and share in her own way. Encouraged by the outstanding performances from the cast, this film will trigger important dialogues for families who might be finally willing to share stories and traumas. War and trauma will always be an uncomfortable subject, but when approached with delicacy, conversations are key to generational progress.
Memory Box is showing at Broadway Cinema until Thursday 24 February
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