Re-Destruction

„The breath of the city were us, the people“, says a citizen of Beirut from the off. One year after the explosion of Beirut’s port in August 2020 and in the wake of reconstruction, Simon El Habre sets out to explore his city’s urban planning since the end of the Civil War (1975-1990). Using military aerial photos dating from before the Civil War, documentary footage from the 1990s, original shots, and voice-recorded interviews, Re-destuction draws a social map of Beirut’s port-side neighbourhoods. Over the decades their people have become invisible to Lebanese politicians. Construction is booming. Corruption is flourishing. Through fixed shots El Habre makes us observe details of the locations he visited while we listen to the narrations of their unseen inhabitants, the breath of the film.

documentary, Simon El Habre, Lebanon 2021, 41 min, color, Arabic with Engl. ST
Director Simon El Habre | Writer Simon El Habre & Petra Serhal | Cinematography Bassem Fayad | Sound Chadi Roukoz | Editing Simon El Habre | Sound Editing / Mixing Victor Bresse | Production Jana Wehbe

  • Simon El Habre
    Director
    The One Man Village
  • Simon El Habre
    Writer
  • Petra Serhal
    Writer
  • Jana Wehbe
    Producer
  • Bassem Fayad
    Camera
    In the Last Days of the City, The Valley, The One Man Village
  • Chadi Roukoz
    Sound Recording
  • Victor Bresse
    Sound Editing
  • Simon El Habre
    Editing
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    41 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 26, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Lebanon
  • Country of Filming:
    Lebanon
  • Language:
    Arabic
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Aflamuna
    Beirut
    Lebanon
  • ALFILM
    Berlin
    Germany
  • Jerusalem Arab Film Festival
    Jerusalem
    Palestine, State of
    Jury Prize for Best Documentary "Shirine Abou Akleh" Award
  • Beirut Cinema Days
    Beirut
    Lebanon
Distribution Information
  • mec film
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Simon El Habre

Born in Beirut in 1975, he obtained his Diploma in Directing ALBA (Beirut) in 1998 and graduated from Femis (Paris) in Film and Video Editing in 2000. He teaches Film editing and directing at Lebanese Universities.
Simon El Habre has built a strong reputation in Lebanon and the Middle East as an editor and director. He has edited many award-winning films. In 2008 he directed his first full-length documentary, “The One Man Village”. The movie was highly acclaimed by festivals, press and audiences internationally and received many awards among them the Best International Feature award at HotDocs 2009. In 2011, he directed his second full-length documentary, “Gate #5”. The movie also participated in many Arab and international film festival. “Re-destruction” documentary is his latest film, released in Autumn 2021.
Simon is also a member of the cultural association for the development of Arab cinema, Beirut DC.

filmography
2021 Re-Destruction, Director/Editor (41 min)
2011 Gate #5, Director, Documentary (82 min)
2011 Planet of Snail, Editor, Documentary (Korea), Best Feature Documentary, IDFA (70’)
2010 Stray Bullet, Editor, Feature film (75 min)
2009 Once Again, Editor, Feature film (96 min)
1958, Editor, Documentary (66 min)
2008 The One Man Village, Director, Documentary (86 min)
2007 Posthumus, Editor, Experimental video (28 min)
2005 Abu Khalil, Editor, Documentary (90 min)

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