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He was starting to unbutton her shirt on the night of 7-8 February, 2000, when the room became suddenly dark: “What happened?” “Most likely, Israel has once more attacked the power stations.” The nocturnal is not reserved for the night in Lebanon: even during daylight, doesn’t a shade of the night appear every time the electricity is off due to electricity-rationing? Through this additional period of darkness during which they do not sleep, the Lebanese have turned into quasi insomniacs. The spells of periodic cut off of electricity have allowed me, who is otherwise not an insomniac, to better appreciate my insomniac friend the filmmaker and writer Ghassan Salhab.

Screenings:
— Premiered at the 6th Sharjah International Biennial, United Arab Emirates, 8 April - 8 May 2003.
— OVNI 2003 Archivos del Observatorio, Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona, Spain, 29 May 2003.
— “Focus Jalal Toufic,” 16th International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA), 22 and 25 November 2003.
— Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, 28 January 2004.
— Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre Foundation, Ramallah, Palestine, 27 March.
— Nuevo Video Árabe, Centro Cultural Cajastur, Muralla Romana, Gijon, Spain, May 2004.
— Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, USA, 23 November 2004.
— Nuevo Video Árabe, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain, August - September 2005.

 

© 2005–2015 by Jalal Toufic. All rights reserved.

 
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