Joint Screening of The Giver of Freedom in Beirut
Beirut, the former As-Safir newspaper building in Hamra hosted a special screening of the newly restored version of The Giver of Freedom (1989) by Iraqi filmmaker Kais al-Zubaidi. The event was organized by Nadi Lekol Nas and ANHAR – The Arab Network for Human Rights Films, in collaboration with Karama Beirut and Karama Human Rights Film Festival – Amman.
Winner of the Golden Award at the 6th Damascus Film Festival, the film transcends its role as a historical record to become, in itself, an act of resistance through the documentary form. It chronicles Lebanese and Palestinian resistance movements in the 1980s against Israeli occupation, blending archival photographs and footage with direct testimonies, paintings, and music by Marcel Khalife and Ziad Rahbani. The montage, a hallmark of al-Zubaidi’s cinematic language, transforms fragmented documents into a living collective memory of struggle and sacrifice.
The restoration was carried out by Nadi Lekol Nas after the original 16mm print suffered deterioration, ensuring the film’s reintroduction to audiences in Lebanon and across the Arab world. In doing so, the association highlights film restoration as a cultural act of resistance, safeguarding visual memory and passing it on to future generations.
