About A War: the Lebanon civil war between 1975 -1990

When many look at war they often opt for a simplified view of who they think is wrong and why. In this documentary the perpetrators are shown on the screen, talking about their experiences and the traumatic events, it gives a distinct perspective (Morag, 2020). This allows us to learn from the faults they once committed and listening to them extends the viewers understanding of post-war effects. The film About War, directed by Daniele Rugo and Abi Weaver, showed the perpetrator’s trauma and the suffering of victims in Lebanon’s civil war from 1975 -1990.

Lebanon had many factions based on ideology, ethnicity, and religion such as communist, Christians, Sunni, Shia, and Palestinians (Rid and Hecker, 2009). This sectarianism was primed for tension in a limited piece of land which Lebanon occupies (Nagel, 2002). The film showed photographs after bombs had exploded on the street and people burnt to death which plays on emotion and realization of the effects war and weapons have. The film visited a mosque where many Palestine martyrs were buried. One of the Palestinian showing in illustration 1 states that his father is buried there.

Illustration 1 (Screenshot from the film)

However, the film brought different perspectives from each side through the eyes of individuals who supported their factions in the civil war and showed their feelings and thoughts. It showed how the civil war caused many regrets and changed their perspective and the ideology they once had before the war.

This showed when one of the interviewees shown in illustration 2 said “I see myself as perpetrator not a victim” the camera moves close to his face which allows us to see his thoughts, his emotion, and regrets. He declared his intent to “help other not to do the mistake I did”. This sequence in the film shows the perpetrators to have self-awareness as they confess while delivering a message.

Illustration 2

At the end there were sequences when a question was asked “how do you cope?” This question plays a crucial part in showing post-war trauma and regrets. An Interviewee shown in illustration 3 answered: “In war, even if you don’t die and you survive it, three-quarters of you will die”.

Illustration 3

Nevertheless, the film doesn’t end there. The work of the filmmakers is extended on a website they host, with more related traumatic stories from Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and others such as Shahira’s or George’s videos.

About a War - The Archive

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Bibliography

About a War, (2018). Directed by Daniele Rugo and Abi Weaver. IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8667126/

Khalili, L. (2005). Places of Memory and Mourning: Palestinian Commemoration in the Refugee Camps of Lebanon. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 25(1), pp.30–45.

Morag, R. 2020. 1. DEFINING PERPETRATOR CINEMA. Perpetrator Cinema: Confronting Genocide in Cambodian Documentary. New York Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press, pp. 1-45.

Nagel, C. (2002). Reconstructing space, re-creating memory: sectarian politics and urban development in post-war Beirut. Political Geography, 21(5), pp.717–725.

Rid, T. and Hecker, M. (2009). War 2.0 : irregular warfare in the information age. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International.