20/08/2020 Mediterranean film festival
Sylvain Lepetit: The anger of the Lebanese people is now even greater
When the government announced a tax on Whatsapp, protests erupted in Lebanon, which have united the country’s different faith communities against the political elite. We are watching the story of the corrupt government of this country in the film “Lebanon: A People’s Anger” at the 21st Mediterranean Film Festival, which was an opportunity to talk to Sylvain Lepetit, French director and independent journalist whose passion are the stories from the Middle East. The Lebanese supported the demonstrations last year, which is the story of your film. After the explosion, that anger, as you call it, is even greater.
Yes, the support has reached over a million Lebanese people. Last year there were peaceful protests, but nothing has changed. A year later, after the explosion, Lebanese feel that their government has not only robbed them, but also killed them. Most peaceful protesters turned into violent after losing friends, family homes. Even the firefighters, due to the deaths of their colleagues, turned to the side of the protesters.
Protesters do not only want the government to resign?
No, they want a complete change of the regime. Now the power has been taken by the little warlords who still inherit it from the Civil War - the president of the Christian forces, the head of parliament from Amal, Hezbollah.... This nation has been powerless for more than 30 years, but they are like mafia, racketeering their own people. Also, there is this explosion now, which is a cocktail of mismanagement, corruption, greed. Exactly what the protesters we filmed last year protested against.
Tell us something more about Pearla Joe, a strong and independent woman who has become the voice of the protesters, and whom we follow in your film.
I first met Pearl on the second day of the protests.When I heard and saw the energy she has I knew she would be the main character of the documentary about this movement.As a journalist, I have been following stories from the Middle East for the past six years and I haven’t seen such a spontaneous revolution like this one since the Arab Spring.
You are bringing a story from three cities – Tripoli, Beirut and Tyrus. The revolution has begun, the protesters are no longer afraid, they want freedom. Are there any solutions in sight?
Yes, there are solutions. Lebanon has got incredibly well educated people, who speak three languages fluently – Arabic, English and French. It could be the Switzerland of the Middle East. But Lebanon is a hostage of the spirit of the civil war and instability in the Middle East. It is important for Iran that Hezbollah stays strong against Israel. For Saudi Arabia it was important to keep the Sunni Hariri family in power in order to oppose Iran. For the West, it was important to keep a strong Christian leader in order to oppose the others, and this strategy of the alliance was guided by an irreconcilable statute.
Beirut is also called the Paris of the Middle East because of its beauty.
Beirut is Beirut and it is unique. Not the most beautiful, but the most fascinating city in the Middle East because of its diversity, energy, fun, resilience ...It has the pride of Paris within, the Italian ‘dolce vita’ and the Arab warm hospitality. I hope the city will rise from the ashes again as it has in the past!
