IN CINEMA
SOUHA, SURVIVING HELL
Friday, March 1 at 7PM
Tickets: $15 General Admission/ $7 Reduced Price
Presented in collaboration with Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) and Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI)
Randa Chahal Sabag, 2001, 57 min.
Souha Béchara, a Christian from South Lebanon, has always known the region under Israeli occupation. She tries to assassinate General Lahd, the head of the South Lebanon Army, an auxiliary of the Israeli Army. He is left gravely injured, narrowly escaping death. Souha is imprisoned and tortured at length.
She is 21 years old, and will spend 10 years at the Khiam detention center, 6 of which in solitary confinement. May 24th, 2000, after 23 years of occupation, Israel retreats from South Lebanon. The Khiam detention center is mobbed by the crowds.
The film follows Souha Béchara’s return to her village, Deir Mimas, to the Khiam jail, in the very place where she tried to assassinate General Lahd. For Souha, surviving hell is a joyful, thoughtful, and liberating travel diary. The diary of a trip that, for a moment, let one believe in the possible reconciliation of our country.
Introduction and post-screening Q&A with members of WAWOG!
Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) is an ad hoc coalition committed to solidarity and the horizon of liberation for the Palestinian people. Drawing together writers, editors, and other culture workers, WAWOG hopes to provide education and ongoing infrastructure for cultural organizing in response to the war. This project is modeled on American Writers Against the Vietnam War, an organization founded in 1965.
The Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI) is the first organization of its kind outside the Arab world, a unique ecosystem to find, nurture and develop Arab film and media projects. It was rebranded from the Arab Film Festival in 2017 to fulfill its broader mandate to empower local Arab talent to tell their communities’ stories in their own voices. Through film, education, mentorship, and new media, AFMI’s mission is to enhance public understanding of Arab culture and provide insight into the beauty, complexity and diversity intrinsic to the Arab world.
