Interview with the director
About Panoptic: Interview with Rana Eid - Conducted by film critic Nadim Jarjoura, Beirut, July 2017
How did the lm idea come to your mind?
The idea did not come neither in an organized nor chronological way. It started developing from the very first moment I knew that there was an underground prison attached to the General Directorate of Public Security in Beirut, which I thought was a parking lot. Some mistakes happened in the official papers of the maid that was working in my house, and so she was arrested there. When I went to check on her, I discovered that under the bridge there was an underground detention center.
Fine. But what about the idea of sending him a letter? This reminds me of your graduation film, Letter to My Palestinian Friend (1999)??
Later on, I remembered my graduation film. At that period of my life, I was trying to understand my relationship with Palestine. Perhaps in my subconscious, I consider that letters are my way to solve pending questions.
Despite the discovery of a detention center for foreigners who do not have official papers to live in Lebanon, the film is not directly related to them.?
I did not want a film about the prisoners, we all know their suffering. I wanted to explore the other side, dig further in the military and security establishment, which declares its desire for justice, but at a later stage of the Amnesty Law (1991) .
And what about the sound? We do not listen to the city nor to each other. In the film, mostly the sound and image are out of sync and the perspective of the sounds is intentionally broken. For example, some shots are filmed from above whereas their correspondent sound is taken from below.
In the film there are 3 places and 3 storylines: the public security prison under the Al-Tahwita Bridge, the Murr Tower and the Beau Rivage Hotel. In other terms, the official authority, the time of the militias, and the period of the Syrian occupation. In parallel, the storylines are: the story of a father, a civil war that has not ended, and the path for peace that is incomplete and fragile. All of it merging with your own storyline.
This is not meant to blame the army or the military security establishment. I am not pointing out the guilty party here. And yet, somewhere, questioning the army is necessary. Responsibilities are falling on many officers who must be held accountable for their actions.
You remind me of the novel Byretus: Underground City (2009) by Rabih Jaber.
I thought of the film in terms of sound. The sounds of the city itself occupies a large part of the film. I worked on the image as I worked on the sound: layers above layers. Things that do not specifically match. My biggest challenge lies in the lack of any sound effects. All sounds are real, captured as they are, and I have not manipulated them.
I think this expresses exactly how I worked on Panoptic.
What about the difficulties when it comes to shooting? Such a film made in such a country, must have faced many difficulties and challenges.
I certainly had numerous difficulties, but I managed to get what I wanted. Few military and security officials have shown a great willingness to help, and that is what happened. Thanks to them, I was able to get into the places I wanted, shoot what I needed, even if I had access for only few limited hours. I had restrictions, but nevertheless I managed to capture what I wanted.
During the editing, I reached moments when I would feel totally lost. Rania Stephan (the editor) would insist on reminding me of my original idea. She knew how to bring me back to it. I asked her if I could watch the rushes again. She refused and advised me to listen to the sound rushes. She asked me many questions, to bring me back to the core of it all. After my work on the sound design, we went back to the editing. I knew the cost would increase. Still, I had no other choice. The sound design changed the rhythm of the editing.
I noticed that there is little space for music.
I did not want to put a lot of music in the film, because I wanted the sound of the city to be present. Nadim Mishlawi (the music composer) proposed to put music in the sequences where we needed to feel a certain emotion, and I think it worked.