Film screening:
The Soil and the Sea
Lebanon/UK, 73 minutes, 2023
A film by Daniele Rugo. Produced by Carmen Hassoun Abou Jaoude and Daniele Rugo. Original text written and voiced by Elias Khoury. Learn more.
đź“… Wednesday, 21 January
đź•› 19.00
đź“Ť Turmzimmer (4th floor), kHaus Basel
đź’¬ Followed by a discussion with co-producer Carmen Hassoun Abou Jaoude, moderated by Rita El Khoury (swisspeace).
In Lebanon, more than 100 untouched mass graves from the Civil War (1975–1990) remain, and thousands of families continue to wait for news of a missing relative - or at least a bone to bury.
The Soil and the Sea unveils the violence concealed beneath a garden, a school, a café, a hotel, and other seemingly ordinary landscapes. As the camera examines these everyday spaces, voices rise to fill them with stories that have long been silenced.
More than 30 years after the end of the war, families in Lebanon still lack answers about the fate of their loved ones. The creation of the National Commission for the Disappeared in 2020 has offered renewed hope that these sites will finally be investigated and that remains may one day be returned to those who have waited for decades. This documentary serves as the first comprehensive record of these locations, which are threatened by neglect, real estate development, and collective oblivion.
Following the screening, swisspeace will host a short discussion with the film’s co-producer, Carmen Hassoun Abou Jaoude. We will explore the film’s artistic approach and creation process, as well as the broader issue of enforced disappearances in contexts of armed conflict and other situations of violence.
