The One Man Village
سمعان بالضيعة
The One Man Village (Semaan bil Day'ia)
Semaan is leading a quiet life on his farm in the small village Ain el-Halazoun in the Lebanese mountains. The hamlet was completely emptied and destroyed in combats during the civil war in Lebanon between 1975 and 1990. Today, many years after an official reconciliation, its inhabitants which are all from one family regularly go back to the village to cultivate their plots of land or visit their houses and always leave before sunset.
In his comforting and humorous film Simon El Habre observes the life in his quasi ghost village and tries to reflect on the collective and individual memory in a country that seems to live in a collective amnesia and is vulnerable to a new civil war.
documentary, Simon El Habre, Lebanon 2008, 86 min, color, Arabic with Engl. ST, additional languages available
Director Simon El Habre | Writer Simon El Habre | Cinematography Bassem Fayad, Marc Karam | Sound Chadi Roukoz | Cast Semaan El Habre | Editing Simon El Habre | Sound Editing/ Mixing Emile Aouad | Producers Simon El Habre, Jad Abi-Khalil, Irit Neidhardt | Produced by Beirut DC in association with mec film
From the press
A wonderful work, in every aspect. (radioeins)
A film full of poetry and simple worldly wisdom. (Berliner Morgenpost)
A film that goes under the skin. (Al-Mustaqbal)
It looks like, this film is the major cinematographic event of the year 2008 in Beirut. (Al-Akhbar)
festivals/awards | film-maker Simon El Habre | background material
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