Synopsis

1974: Lebanon is in intellectual, cultural and political ferment. Between March and April, for 37 days, a few students from the American University of Beirut occupy the university’s premises to protest against rising tuition fees. 2011: in the midst of the Arab Spring, Rania and Raed Rafei decide to step back and reconsider today’s situation in the light of that period which was pregnant with hope, but also a prelude to civil war

Directors Biography

Rania Rafei, born in 1979 in Lebanon, Rania Rafei has a diploma in audiovisual and cinema studies from the Lebanese academy of fine arts (ALBA). Since 2005 she has been directing documentaries, awareness spots and music videos about the subject of disability, commissioned by the Special rapporteur on Disability in the UN. She also directed several documentaries for Al Jazeera about street kids, snake hunters, portraits of several artists in the Arab world and the history of student movement in Lebanon and Yemen.

Raed El Rafei has worked as a journalist with various publications covering an array of fields (political, social, economic...) since 2004. After completing a BS at the American University of Beirut and a Master degree in Journalism, he first contributed articles for a specialized environmental magazine before moving to work as a reporter for the Lebanese Daily Star. In 2006, after reporting on the summer war between Israel and Hezbollah, he joined the Los Angeles Times as a correspondent in Lebanon. He covered the security situation in Lebanon, wrote features on social and political issues and commented on current affairs in various Arab countries. Since october 2008, he has been working as a trainer and an editor for Middle East programs of the Institute for War and Peace reporting.