Director: Jocelyne Saab
Cast: Jacques Weber, Hala Bassam, Juliet Berto
Lebanon, France, Canada, Argentina, 90’, 1985, color
Arabic, French with Turkish subtitles

The first film shot in post-war Lebanon, A Suspended Life is set in Beirut ten years into the conflict. Hala, a child of the war, finds relief from the chaos around her through Egyptian movies she watches on television. Karim, an artist in retreat from life, remains in his apartment in war-torn West Beirut, confident that he is safe in his familiar neighbourhood. An unlikely bond is formed between the two as they face the devastating civil war. A tale of poetic truth, A Suspended Life examines the ways in which war brings people together as well as tearing them apart. "I've invented places," writes director Jocelyne Saab, "as if by making a work of fiction about them, I could preserve them."

Chronicle of the Year of Embers

Chronicle of the Year of Embers

A Suspended Life

A Suspended Life

Date Wine

Date Wine

Omar Gatlato

Omar Gatlato

Umm Kulthum, A Voice Like Egypt

Umm Kulthum, A Voice Like Egypt

The Broken Wings

The Broken Wings

Alexandria Trilogy Alexandria, Again and Forever

Alexandria Trilogy Alexandria, Again and Forever

Alexandria Trilogy Alexandria, Why?

Alexandria Trilogy Alexandria, Why?

Alexandria Trilogy An Egyptian Story

Alexandria Trilogy An Egyptian Story

Postcard Nudes

Postcard Nudes

The various states of viewing nudity entered the Ottoman world on postcards before paintings. These postcards appeared in the 1890s, and became widespread in the 1910s, following the proclamation of the Second Constitutional Monarchy, traveling from hand to hand, city to city. 

Kozbekçi Mustafa Ağa

Kozbekçi Mustafa Ağa

When Karl XII of Sweden was defeated by Tsar Peter the Great of Russia in 1709, he fled to the Ottoman Empire and settled in Bender with his entourage for five years.

Face to Face

Face to Face

A firm believer in the idea that a collection needs to be upheld at least by four generations and comparing this continuity to a relay race, Nahit Kabakcı began creating the Huma Kabakcı Collection from the 1980s onwards.