Beirut Port Blast Stories takes search for justice global following explosion

After airing in Lebanon last month, the documentary is continuing the fight in France, Japan and Canada

Beirut Port Blast Stories is a documentary that explores the aftermath of the August 2020 disaster. Photo: Cherine Yazbeck

Produced over two and a half years, the 30-minute film first screened in May at Beirut’s Zoukak Theatre. Photo: AD Leb

The film features testimony from families of the blast's victims, including Mariana Fodoulian who lost her sister Gaia in the explosion. Photo: Cherine Yazbeck

The silos of the Port of Beirut shielded much of West Beirut from the worst of the explosion, becoming an unofficial memorial. Photo: Cherine Yazbeck

'We hope to move international audiences, because it's really important to keep these memories alive. People here have already put it in the past,' Vartivarian tells The National. Photo: AD Leb

Currently showing as part of France’s international Cote Court film festival, Beirut Port Blast Stories is a poignant examination of Lebanese mourning, anger and the demand for justice in the wake of tragedy.

Presented by Art Design Lebanon and Letitia Art Gallery, the documentary is directed by Lebanese journalist, author and photographer Cherine Yazbeck.

Produced over two and a half years, the 30-minute film – which first screened last month at Beirut’s Zoukak Theatre – chronicles the experiences of William Noun, Ibrahim Hoteit, Mariana Fodoulian and Rima Zahed; each of whom lost a sibling in the deadly explosion in 2020.

“On the first night after the blast, I started filming at the port,” Yazbeck tells The National. “I had to cover the story. I became obsessed. A lot of us did not realise what actually happened. I had to film, to make sure that it wasn't a nightmare and that it actually happened.”

She adds: “I was really devastated by the stories we would hear because we heard so many stories about families and friends injured.

“I started meeting with people, and this is how I came to create this film. I selected the ones that I wanted to interview because each one of them had their grievances, but together they tell one big story about their suffering and what it is to lose a loved one suddenly in this explosion that was the result of a corrupt state.”

Through these interviews, Yazbeck addresses the intensely painful, ongoing trauma of the Lebanese people, commemorating those killed and hurt, while depicting the unity of survivors in their quests for answers and accountability.

Cherine Yazbeck and Annie Vartivarian. Photo: AD Lab

The film is composed of several elements. The interview segments are shot in the style of a news piece, devoid of music or visual flair in a simple setting, placing the focus of the audience wholly on the words and expressions of the speakers. These are interspersed with audio recordings of telephone calls and video taken at the time of the blast – highlighting the confusion and chaos of August 4, as well as the suddenness of the explosion itself.

This is then contrasted against footage of the aftermath, both in the immediate and the long term – creating a dissonant sense of calm in quieter moments that underscores the lingering sense of loss felt by those still mourning their loved ones. Scenes of birds flocking around the ruins – drawn by the spilt grain previously stored in the port’s silos – juxtapose an outwardly peaceful scene with the months and years of government inaction that led to it.

“I wanted a very strong visual identity that is very cinematic,” Yazbeck explained. “When it comes to footage, 90 per cent of the footage is my footage. I wanted to archive what the families of the victims had to say. It was also important to document what everybody has been going through. It took a lot of time because there was a huge amount of footage.”

The documentary also features the testimony of a fifth speaker, former president of the Union of Silo Employees Boutros Gebral, who spent more than four decades working on the construction of the Port of Beirut. He explains the history of the famous silos, from their use as shelters during the Lebanese Civil War, to their present status as a memorial to those who died in the blast, accompanied by archival images rendered in black and white.

The preservation of the silos was hotly debated in the years following the port explosion. Government plans to pull down the remaining structures due to safety concerns were met with vehement opposition from the families of victims. This continued until the silos partially collapsed two years later, due to an internal fire started by rotting grain in the summer heat.

CCTV footage showing the immediate aftermath of the port explosion. Photo: Cherine Yazbeck

“This documentary offers a visual memory of the tragedy and attempts to repair and console the living,” says Annie Vartivarian, founder and director of Art Design Lebanon. “It serves as a memory for those that have died, and those that remain and are still fighting to know the truth. We want not just Lebanon but the world to know these stories.”

Vartivarian is also the mother of Mariana and Gaia Fodoulian, the latter of whom was killed in the blast. The former appears in the documentary, speaking about her sister.

“With this documentary, I felt myself responsible to protect it from being used for political aims or ideologies,” she continues. “This is my duty. Every day, more and more people are forgetting. My daughter Mariana was saying Lebanese people forget quickly. Now, it’s time to let people remember. I think it’s going to have more of an impact on the international viewers.”

While public support remains strong for the still ongoing judicial investigation, there have yet to be any prosecutions over the explosion, despite accusations of criminal neglect by both politicians and port authorities. Those who have been targeted for questioning – some of whom have already been formally charged – enjoy the protection of parliamentary immunity and have attempted to frustrate the legal process by filing lawsuits against the state.

The inclusion of Ibrahim Hoteit as one of those testifying in the documentary has received some criticism. Since the time of the filming, Hoteit’s position has shifted from demanding accountability for the families of the victims to publically decrying the judicial investigation and accusing judge Tarek Bitar of political bias.

Mariana Fodoulian, who lost her sister to the blast, speaking at the Zoukak Theatre premiere. Photo: AD Leb

However, Yazbeck insists there is still value in presenting his voice from the immediate aftermath of the blast, even as his stance has altered over time.

“As a journalist, I knew at some point not all of them will have the same statement as the time when I interviewed them,” she admits. “I was aware of that because we’re Lebanese. Some communities will just turn away from all this, but it is historic.”

“Politicians try to separate us by politics and religion, but we have to continue and work for justice,” says Mariana Fodoulian. “The four of us in the movie are from different backgrounds. Before the explosion, it was really hard to meet each other or work together, but the blast didn't touch a party or a religion or a specific type of people.”

Yazbeck and Vartivarian now plan to take Beirut Port Blast Stories to more international film festivals, with the Tokyo Lift-Off Festival and the Toronto Documentary Feature and Short Film Festival already confirmed.

“We’re still applying now,” says Vartivarian. “We missed a lot of the deadlines and we couldn't apply for many festivals in the coming year. We hope to move international audiences because it's really important to keep these memories alive. People here have already put it in the past.”

She adds: “We're also going to create a show out of all the materials we have but, as for the movie itself, for now, we are still not sure if we will show it in Lebanon again or not.

“Some people think it should be seen as much as it can, maybe through Netflix or something similar, [but] we don’t want it to be attacked or used for any political aim from different parties.”