Myriam El Hajj’s DIARIES FROM LEBANON to world premiere at 74th Berlin International Film Festival

release date February 13 2024

The film also dropped its first official poster ahead of the Berlinale

Myriam El Hajj’s Lebanese feature-length documentary DIARIES FROM LEBANON — the latest international sales acquisition by film distribution and sales giant MAD Solutions — will be holding its anticipated world premiere in the Panorama Section of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, which is set to run from February 15th to the 25th.

The has also recently revealed its first official poster ahead of its premiere, depicting a lone female figure sitting atop a rooftop and looking at a revolution-stricken Lebanon.

You can get your first look at the poster here.

The film will be screened several times throughout the festival, initially starting out with a market screening that will take place on Saturday, February 17th at 12:40 pm at CinemaxX 13.

As for the Panorama screenings, they will be kicking off with the film’s official premiere on Monday, February 19th at 6:30 pm at Cubix 9 and continue with screenings on Tuesday, February 20th at 10 pm at Zoo Palast 2; Wednesday, February 21st at 3:30 pm at Cubix 5; Saturday, February 24th at 10:30 am at Cubix 5; and finally, Sunday, February 25th at 9:30 pm at Cubix 5.

As an added treat, the film’s premiere and several of its screenings will be attended by director Myriam El Hajj; producers Myriam Sassine and Carine Ruszniewski; Lebanese author, journalist, and human rights activist Joumana Haddad; Lebanese artist and activist Perla Joe Maalouli; and MAD Solutions Co-Founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab.

The docudrama takes place in Lebanon, where, in the form of diaries, the filmmaker narrates four tumultuous years of a nation in turmoil, battling to break free from its own chains.

As the country is shaken by disruptions, personal quests for meaning and survival unfold. How can we continue to dream when the world around us is collapsing?

DIARIES FROM LEBANON was written, directed, and co-lensed by El Hajj alongside Jihad Saadé and Mohamed Siam, produced by Sassine of Abbout Productions and Ruszniewski of GoGoGo Films, and edited by Anita Perez and Stéphanie Sicard. The documentary features author and activist Joumana Haddad, Lebanese war veteran Georges Moufarej, and artist and activist Perla Joe Maalouli.

Myriam El Hajj is a Lebanese filmmaker whose first feature-length documentary, A TIME TO REST, premiered at Visions du Réel-Nyon in 2015 and screened at several international festivals, winning multiple awards.

She teaches cinema at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts and is a member of several film commissions, including the CNC and Doha Film Institute. She’s also a founding member of Rawiyat-Sisters in Film — a collective of women filmmakers from the Arab world and the diaspora.