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Memory Box 15 rating

A package of keepsakes from 1980s wartime Beirut arrives in contemporary Montreal, in this stylish intergenerational drama from acclaimed directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige.

Drama 2021 103 mins

Director: Khalil Joreige

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Overview

Teenager Alex (Paloma Vauthier) covertly goes through her mother Maia’s box of journals, audio tapes and photographs, which reveal a difficult adolescence in the war-torn Lebanese capital – and a dark family secret. Alex uses the material to build her own picture of Maia’s youth, sharing intimate memories on social media. The film explores how distance affects personal relationships, whilst providing a refreshingly female perspective on conflict and memory. Long-term collaborators whose outputs cross the worlds of art and film, Hadjithomas and Joreige (Je Veux Voir, The Lebanese Rocket Society) here delve into their personal archives, building from their own memory boxes. This graceful film also serves as an ode to hope and regeneration at a time when Beirut once again finds itself rebuilding after a tragedy.

Originally screened as part of BFI London Film Festival 2021 in the Dare strand.

Director
Khalil Joreige
Featuring
Rim TurkiManal IssaPaloma Vauthier
Genres
Drama
Certificate
15infrequent strong bloody images
Released
2021
Country
France
Language
English