Memory Box
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil JoreigePalestine Cinema Days
November 4, 2022, 18:00
Memory Box, directed by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
102 minutes, 2021(Lebanon/ France/ Canada)
Arabic/ French with Arabic and English subtitles
Maia, a single mother, lives in Montreal with her teenage daughter, Alex. On Christmas Eve, they receive an unexpected delivery: notebooks, tapes, and photos that Maia sent to her best friend from 1980’s Beirut. Maia refuses to open the box or confront its memories, but Alex secretly begins diving into it. Between fantasy and reality, Alex enters the world of her mother’s tumultuous, passionate adolescence during the Lebanese civil war, unlocking mysteries of a hidden past.
The work of filmmakers/artists Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige interrogates the creation of images and representation, from the construction of the imaginary to the writing of contemporary history. They are interested in traces of the invisible, the absent and stories kept from view; such as the missing victims the Lebanese civil war, a forgotten space program, geological and archaeological strata, or the strange consequences of Internet scams and spam. Their feature films The Lebanese Rocket Society, A Perfect Day and Je Veux Voir (featuring Catherine Deneuve and Rabih Mroué) have been screened and awarded in major international festivals, and their artworks exhibited in prominent museums, biennales and art centers worldwide. In 2017, they were awarded the prestigious Marcel Duchamp Prize. Hadjithomas and Joreige are the co-founders of Abbout Productions and serve as executive board members of the Metropolis Cinema in Beirut.
Part of Palestine Cinema Days 2022 organized by Filmlab:Palestine