The Freedom Giver

Lebanon | 1987 | 1h30 | Documentary When Israel succeeded in expelling the Palestinian Resistance in Lebanon in 1982, the Lebanese Resistance grew in Beirut and then spread all over Lebanon, leading to the outbreak of the Intifada in Palestine. The documentary film relies on sound and visual material including rare photographic images and scenes from cinematic films, coupled with music and songs from Marcel Khalife, as well as Ziad Rahbani’s famous song If he stands South, he stands with his children performed here by artist Sami Hawat. A film by Kais Al-Zubaidi Kais Al-Zubaidi was born in Baghdad in 1945. Graduated from the Higher Institute of Cinema of Babelsberg (Germany) in editing and image, he began his career by participating in many documentaries for the Higher Institute of Cinema and for the DEFA studios. He is a screenwriter, director, cinematographer and editor. He is also a film critic and theorist. He shot regularly in Syria where he made documentary films focused on the Palestinian people, including “Far from the Homeland” (1969) and “Testimonies of Palestinian Children in Wartime” (1972). His films have won several awards at the Damascus International Film Festival, at the Palestine festival in Baghdad, the JCC - Carthage Film Festival and many other international festivals. He has directed and edited several films in Germany. He has also edited famous Arab films such as “Crown of Thorns” (Nabil Al-Maleh), the trilogy “Men Under the Sun” (Nabil Al-Maleh, Muhammad Chahine, Marwan Muazzin), “Everyday Life in a Syrian Village” and “On a Revolution” (Omar Amiralay), “The Knife” (Khaled Hamadeh), “Beirut, Oh Beirut” (Maroun Bagdadi), “Earth Day” (Ghaleb Sha'ath), “Return to Haifa (Qassem Hawal), “The Night” (Muhammad Malas).