MFAH Film Special Presentation: Lebanon: Of Wars and Men
- When
- April 17, 2016
- Where
-
Museum of Fine Arts Houston – Brown Auditorium
1001 Bissonnet Street
Houston,TX 77006 - Cost
- $2 - $1001
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents a MFAH Film Special Presentation.
Directed by Frédéric Laffont
2012, in Arabic and French with English subtitles
France
156 minutes
Presented by Jean-Pierre Filiu, a renowned Arabist who is on the faculty at Sciences Po in Paris.
This enlightening, three-part documentary traces the history of the civil war within Lebanon (1975–90).
Narrated in English, the film includes powerful interviews with those who lived through the violence and devastation. Their testimonials are illustrated with archival footage telling a complicated story of the many crises and reversals that have obscured humanity’s perception of this country.
Concluding his chronology in 2012, director Frédéric Laffont suggests connections between today’s headlines and Lebanon’s difficult recent history, while maintaining an emphasis on the Lebanese people, their passion for life, and their resilience.
About the Speaker
Jean-Pierre Filiu, a historian and an arabist, is professor of Middle East Studies at Sciences Po, Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA). He has taught ?at Sciences Po since 2006 and has been an associate to the CERI since 2009.
He has held visiting professorships both at Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and at Georgetown School of Foreign Service (SFS). He served as an advisor to the Prime Minister (2000-2002), to the Minister of Defense (1991-93), and to the Minister of Interior (1990-91).
Prof. Filiu was a career diplomat from 1988 to 2006, following humanitarian missions in Afghanistan (1986) and Lebanon (1983-84). He was assigned to Amman, before becoming Deputy Chief of mission in Damascus and Tunis.
His book Apocalypse in Islam (University of California Press, 2011) was awarded the main prize by the French History Convention. Hurst (London) and Oxford University Press (New York) published his Arab Revolution, ten lessons from the democratic uprising in 2011, Gaza, a History in 2014 and From Deep State to Islamic State : the Arab Counter-revolution and its Jihadi Legacy in 2015.
His writes articles about contemporary Islam and the Arab world that have been published in a dozen languages.
Prof. Filiu also wrote the script of Best of Enemies, a graphic novel about US in the Middle East (two of the three volumes are already out with Self Made Hero).
French President François Hollande appointed Prof. Filiu in July 2012 as one of the members of the draft committee that releases the White Book for Defense and National Security.
