Actress hopes film inspires youth of weary Lebanon

ABU DHABI // Catherine Deneuve made her latest film, Je Veux Voir, for the Lebanese people, to mark their courage and give them hope. At a film forum last night, the French actress said: "The film was my way of saying something for Lebanon and the Lebanese people. They are so resilient in the face of war and I felt it was a great opportunity to highlight their situation." A documentary-style feature, Je Veux Voir, meaning "I want to see", shows the destruction wrought by Lebanon's 2006 summer war with Israel through the French star's eyes and is structured around a single day - although in reality it was filmed over a week.

Deneuve took part in a debate, called Spotlight on Lebanon, at the Emirates Palace hotel, with guest speakers from the UN, Fawzi Yousuf Fawaz, the Lebanese ambassador to Abu Dhabi, and Philippe Aractingi, the director of Under The Bombs, another film about the 2006 war. Topics such as landmines, cluster bombs and refugees were covered. Stephane Jaquemet, from the UNCHR, the UN's refugee agency, said Lebanon had been shaped by the plight of displaced people for years. "There are 400,000 Palestinian refugees and 50,000 Iraqi refugees in the small country of Lebanon and that is why movies like these are so important. They give people a voice and, instead of portraying them as victims, they show them to have courage and strength."

Deneuve hopes other countries will be inspired to use the medium of film to press their own causes. "While a film cannot solve everything, it is really important, especially for the youth of the country, to give them inspiration and hope to try and change things." About Lebanon's future, the actress said: "The most important thing is that people don't give up." [e-mail]