Beirut Film Society: Girls raise their Voices
Movies can entertain us, can make us laugh and they can make us cry – but they can also educate us, give us food for thought, and change our perspectives on society. The Beirut Film Society, a Lebanese NGO, believes in the power of filmmaking to bring about social change.
This is why the organization promotes a concept of “responsible filmmaking”: Through activities such as film screenings, festivals, panels, workshops, seminars and networking events the Beirut Film Society enriches the cinematic landscape in Lebanon and raises awareness about topics such as gender equality, the rights of women and children, power of youth and peacebuilding among many other topics.
The NGO puts a special emphasis on supporting the next generation of responsible filmmakers: In particular, it encourages girls to express themselves and freely share their hopes, fears, challenges, dreams and ambitions. One example is the project “Girls for Change”, which helps girls to deal with painful or even traumatic experiences, strengthens their self-confidence and provides them with an opportunity to tell their stories in their own words. After the explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4th 2020, this has become ever more important, as many young people have been traumatized or re-traumatized by the catastrophe. Therefore, forumZFD decided to support this project with donations collected in Germany after the explosion.
"After each bad event there is also hope"
In spring 2021, the Beirut Film Society conducted two 4-day-workshops with approximately 30 participants each. The participants were girls aged between 13 and 18 years. All of them live in the neighborhoods surrounding the Beirut port, which were most affected by the explosion. In each workshop, the “Girls for Change” learned how to produce a film: from choosing a topic and writing a script, to filming, editing, and sound design. The girls also learned about gender stereotypes in media and cinema and how to break them, and heard testimonies of actresses Zeina Makki and Aline Lahoud. With the assistance of experienced media trainers, the teenagers produced a total of six videos, which were presented during the Beirut International Women Film Festival in July 2021 in presence of the participants, trainers and team. They will also be shown at many national and international Film Festivals around the world.
Throughout all workshop sessions, the Beirut Film Society carefully monitored the participants’ emotional needs. All facilitators were trained in trauma sensitivity and thus able to support the girls whenever painful memories came up. In addition, an experienced drama therapist and a psychologist accompanied the workshops and taught the girls strategies to deal with negative emotions and stress.
Working on the short films helped the young women to cope with what they have gone through: “The explosion was a very traumatic experience”, one 15-year-old participant remembers. “I was very pessimistic for a long time. I had lost all hope and thought it would happen again, and then we would all die.” During the workshop, she and her team found a creative approach to dealing with their memories and feelings. The protagonist in the video makes a drawing of the explosion – but in the shape of a tree. “This symbolizes that after each bad event there is also hope. It will not determine the rest of your live. You will become stronger, gain courage, and grow as a person.”
