waheb al-horriyah (kais al-zubaidi, 1989)

research / film restoration
2022
EQZE x Nadi Lekol Nas

From research and film inspection to manual cleaning, digitizing, grading, digital restoring and mastering, I carried out the entirety of technical tasks needed for the film to circulate again and be preserved, while partnering up with different structures.

To accompany this work I wrote Time Displaced, tracing back the restoration process, as well as the questioning and reflections it provoked, with a particular emphasis on the emotions generated. The text explores themes related to Lebanon’s history, small film archives, the ethics of film restoration and its “international standards,” history and memory.

The film, commissioned by the Lebanese National Front of Resistance in 1989, depicts the many Lebanese and Palestinian Resistance acts carried out by different groups from 1982 to 1987, against the Israeli occupation in Lebanon. The documentary relies on archival footage as well as interviews with the martyrs and their surviving family members.

bilan de la guerre (jocelyne saab, 1982)

digital restoration
march 2022
Association Jocelyne Saab

Digital cleaning with HS-Art Diamant of a short film by Jocelyne Saab, in which she reports on the Israeli siege of Beirut in 1982, for French television.

Map showing the country of Lebanon with major cities including Tripoli, Beirut, Damour, Saida, Tyr, and the neighboring country Syria. The map has a red line dividing it into two parts.
Photograph of a collapsed building showing debris and damaged balconies, with a clear sky in the background.
Black and white photograph of a building collapse with rubble and debris, and several people and construction machinery in the foreground.

war generation (mai masri & jean chamoun, 1989)

film inspection / digitization / elements comparison
january-february 2022

I scanned the 16 mm prints with optical sound (french & english versions), digitized the 1” open reel, inspected the photochemical prints and compared the different existing and newly-created elements to establish a restoration plan.

Filmed on the streets of Beirut in 1989, War Generation is an award-winning documentary that explores the life experiences of three generations of young people as they struggle to grow-up and survive in Lebanon’s war-torn capitol city.

A street sign with the word 'BEIRUT' in illuminated letters.
View of electronic equipment, including a monitor displaying dancing people, cassette players, and reel-to-reel tape decks, in a technical setup or recording studio.
Close-up of a person wearing a brown jacket tying a yellow shoelace.

hymn of liberty (jean chamoun, 1978)

color grading / film restoration
may 2024

I color-graded the digitized film, compensating for a strong color fading.

The short film is a salute to all the Tricontinental liberation movements, filmed at the Havana World Festival for the Youth and Students in the summer of 1978.

Nighttime event with a large display of flowers arranged to form the flag of Cuba, with rows of people standing in front of it and spectators watching, including a child in the foreground.
Comparison of two vintage images of a person running on a track with a crowd in the background, one with a red tint and one with natural colors.
Yasser Arafat wearing sunglasses and a keffiyeh headscarf clapping among a group of men at an outdoor event.