Filmmaker Lana Daher explores Beirut’s multifaceted soul through an archive-based journey centered on the haunting rhythms of the Bendali family’s 1978 track "Do You Love Me". This cinematic investigation navigates the intoxicating yet toxic duality of a city defined by generational cycles of trauma and creation.This massive undertaking involved over 4,000 hours of research into Lebanese independent cinema and journalistic archives to piece together a non-linear history of Lebanon. The investigation delves into why the Lebanese Civil War remains absent from national textbooks, leaving generations to uncover their history through the eyes of artists and oral testimonies. Lana Daher deliberately challenges Western media tropes of Beirut, focusing on the nuanced experiences of civil society through a meticulous blend of sound and image. The film offers potential for collective release by confronting trauma to move beyond it, standing as a celebration of the artists who documented and preserved Lebanese life when institutions failed to do so.
Filmmaker Lana Daher explores Beirut’s multifaceted soul through an archive-based journey centered on the haunting rhythms of the Bendali family’s 1978 track "Do You Love Me". This cinematic investigation navigates the intoxicating yet toxic duality of a city defined by generational cycles of trauma and creation.This massive undertaking involved over 4,000 hours of research into Lebanese independent cinema and journalistic archives to piece together a non-linear history of Lebanon. The investigation delves into why the Lebanese Civil War remains absent from national textbooks, leaving generations to uncover their history through the eyes of artists and oral testimonies. Lana Daher deliberately challenges Western media tropes of Beirut, focusing on the nuanced experiences of civil society through a meticulous blend of sound and image. The film offers potential for collective release by confronting trauma to move beyond it, standing as a celebration of the artists who documented and preserved Lebanese life when institutions failed to do so.
0:00 Introduction
1:33 A Filmmaker's Cinematic Archive
3:45 Navigating an Intoxicating and Toxic Duality
6:35 Relationship Between Music and War
8:48 Unpacking the Bendali Family’s Iconic Track
14:59 A Massive Eight-Year Undertaking
18:19 Over Four Thousand Hours of Research
22:54 Ode to Documentarians and Artists
26:30 Absence of History in National Textbooks
32:01 Layered Soundscapes as a Creative Pulse
34:12 Challenging Western Media Tropes
42:40 Intergenerational Trauma and Collective Release
51:50 Reclaiming a Personal and Shared Past
54:53 Essential Cinematic Recommendations
Lana Daher is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist based in Beirut, Lebanon. With a background in filmmaking (MA, Goldsmiths, University of London) as well as fine arts & graphic design (BFA, American University of Beirut), she has long been active in Beirut’s vibrant art and music scenes, working across sound, image, and archival practices. Her work is grounded in deep research and intuitive storytelling, exploring the space between documentary and fiction by bringing different time periods and emotional landscapes into dialogue. Do You Love Me her debut feature had its world premiere in September 2025 at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. It is an archive-based essay film built from Lebanon’s rich but fragmented audiovisual history. Alongside the film, she created a website, a curated index of the resources and materials behind the project, aimed at reconnecting Lebanese film heritage with both local and wider audiences. An IDFAcademy alumna, Lana also co-produced the film through her company, My Little Films, founded in 2024.
Connect with Lana Daher 👉 https://instagram.com/lanamakesfilms
Hosted by Mikey Muhanna
Connect directly with Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://instagram.com/mikey_mu
Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 https://spoti.fi/47I59ns