Nous étions communistes

Titre original : Sheoeyin Kenna
Titre anglais : We were Communists
Documentaire
    Réalisé par Maher Abi Samra • Écrit par Maher Abi Samra
    Liban, France • 2010 • 90 minutes • HDV • Couleur
Résumé

Des militants de gauche, marxistes ou nationalistes arabes, avaient aspiré pendant la guerre civile libanaise à créer une société non confessionnelle, démocratique, égalitaire, et solidaire de la résistance palestinienne. La guerre civile s’est achevée par la reprise en main des forces traditionnelles, confessionnelles, des pouvoirs politiques, économiques et sociaux. L’espace public est occupé par le confessionnalisme et dominé par la méfiance et la peur de l’Autre. Se créer une marge en dehors des logiques, mobilisation et propagande confessionnelles est une tâche insurmontable.

Shade of the walls is an exploration into the fragmentation of public space in Lebanon between confessional communities, and the integration of individuals within this fragmented space. It is articulated around three characters, including the author, all previous members of the Lebanese Communist Party; their politically engaged years during the Lebanese civil war, the paths each took in the post-war society, as well as their status today as the country knocks the doors of another war.
The closeness of the three characters, friends since 1982 and up till today despite their political differences, allows for an intimate exploration of the path of each. The film is weaved around three road trips, one by each of the characters, crisscrossed by snippets of their daily life today as well as by scenes filmed throughout the past 15 years. All three also meet in contrived scenes around their archives of the party, in the house of one of them; their old reunion space. Animated scenes, of black unconfined lines over white, support the film's expression of extreme moments in the past and the perceived future.

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