Almost two years ago, on August 4, 2020, Lebanon experienced one of the most traumatic events in its history. Around 6 p.m., hangar number 12 in the Beirut port area, filled with 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, exploded. 215 people lost their lives, 6,500 others were injured. Among the most devastated neighborhoods is that of Achrafieh, where the family apartment of Franco-Lebanese director Philippe Audi-Dor is located. Present in France at the time of the events, the author of Wasp and Ruby Red immediately returns to help, then a second time a few months later. The videographer then takes the time to discuss with the people of the neighborhood.
The shock of the first days has passed, but the wounds are still there. He decides to record them, like that, with his cell phone, to “keep track”. He also finds shots he took of his neighborhood months before the explosion, but also of the port that can be seen from his balcony. And decides to give substance to his audio testimonies and make what will become his 11-minute documentary “Beirut facing the monster”. For 20 minutesPhilippe Audi-Dor on the Beirut after.
Who are the people who testify in your documentary?
They are Lebanese of all ages and from different backgrounds. Singles, couples, men, women… Their common point is to live or work in the district of Achrafieh, on the edge of the port. All experienced horror on August 4, 2020. One of the women found herself in a coma for four days, one almost lost her sight, another found her neighbors dead… But that’s not what what this documentary is about. It hints at how these people experience the aftermath. Their feeling of guilt for having survived, the nostalgia for a past life, the dilemma between leaving or staying. How to reclaim this city that almost killed them?
How exactly did they decide to answer this question of staying or leaving?
Since the explosion, many of my friends have left the country, as have quite a few young people in the country. Medical staff, qualified people… They didn’t want to, some had already built things on the spot, but they no longer had any prospects.
At one point, there was such a demand to renew passports that last spring, the institutions stopped issuing them, for lack of resources. For other Lebanese, often a little older, the dilemma is more complicated. In my report, one of the men talks about the business he has set up and on which his employees depend. He still hasn’t let go.
How has the life of the Lebanese deteriorated?
In two years, everything changed. There have always been inequalities, but the middle class lived comfortably, it was a country where life was good. Today, the rise in prices is becoming unsustainable. A pack of pasta costs 60,000 Lebanese pounds (about 40 euros), 1 kg of sugar 40,000 (about 26 euros).
If you fall ill, it becomes more and more difficult to find medicines, because the country’s economic problems mean that they are no longer imported and therefore not available in pharmacies, or else extremely expensive. You then have to go get them on the black market where they are also overpriced. There are also energy problems. In some places, the state provides only two hours of electricity a day, which creates all kinds of problems, such as accessing the Internet or keeping food cold.
How are the Lebanese doing?
There is no government assistance. Nothing. It’s hard to understand how people manage to survive. The country’s currency has lost 90% of its value. Among those who are paid in Lebanese pounds, some depend on relatives and family living outside the country. We hear that among the Lebanese tourists who have been returning to the country since this summer, some arrive with thousands of dollars on them. Me, each time, half of my suitcase is filled with drugs. I think the Lebanese Diaspora is preventing the total collapse of the country. And for those who don’t have anyone, it’s very hard. There is only the help of local and international NGOs present on the spot and above all mutual aid. There is a very strong sense of community in Lebanon.
What is the political future in the country?
The situation is completely blocked. During the legislative elections in May, a few separatists and members of the revolutionary movement were elected. Except that it is a whole governmental system that should be reformed. It is all the same the first time that there are new personalities in Parliament. This gives a small glimmer of hope, because in Lebanon, they are the ones who elect the president, whose election is scheduled for October. I’m afraid it will take too long, that the country will sink first. But in Lebanon, you never know what’s going to happen until it happens.
Two years after the explosion, how are the Lebanese experiencing this tragedy?
It’s as if we all share a collective trauma. The explosion will have marked all Beirutis, if not a large part of the Lebanese. Even those who were not there, or who were part of the diaspora, experienced this day in an extremely strong way.
Following the explosion, the older generations began to evoke episodes experienced during the civil war of 1975-1990. I think the scale of the destruction will have brought back many memories, and many young people have learned many things about their country’s past.
Does justice have any hope of being served?
Impunity is total. There is an investigation, but the politicians put so many spokes in the wheels of the judge that there is little hope that the culprits will be worried. There has already been such impunity after the civil war. Almost no war crimes have been punished. It is not even addressed in the history books at school. But if there is no form of justice, we must not forget. This work of memory will not go through the State, but through the citizens. A country needs to be confronted with its past in order to move forward. Otherwise it’s like a trauma that we don’t work on, it explodes in our face later.