Documentary Competition

Embodied Chorus

Danielle Davie | Mohamad Moe Sabbah
Talent présent •  Talent présent •  
LGBTQIA+ Female Director Human Rights & Society 2023 72 min Lebanon, Germany, Luxembourg
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Synopsis

Danielle’s raw filmed diary and Moe’s vibrant queer memory of living with a sexually transmitted infection, ignite a collaborative exploration of bodies, intimacy, and shame.

A Beirut rooftop conversation about living with Sexually Transmitted Infections opens into a cinematic dialogue, as Danielle and Moe draw raw and vibrant images from their personal experiences. Danielle filmed herself in sober and melancholic images to grasp what is going on, while Moe plays with memories and sensations of a queer body “invaded” by a virus. While they engage with five actresses and actors to embody the testimonies of individuals who also lived with STIs, “forbidden” stories begin to exist and enter a collaborative exploration of intimacy, bodies, stigma and shame.

With visualizations of inner worlds and a focus on growth, Embodied Chorus is a moving statement of personal resilience. The directors’ own stories, combined with testimonials from anonymous straight and queer individuals living across Beirut, lend the documentary an intimate and lyrical sensibility.

Cast/Avec

  • Basma Baydoun
  • Caroline Hatem
  • Cyril Kokozaki

Screenplay

  • Danielle Davie
  • Mohamed Sabbah

Cinematographer

  • Michael Terhorst

Sound

  • Nadim Maalouf
  • Victor Bresse

Music

  • Joseph junior Sfeir

Production

  • Heartwake Films
  • Madame Le Tapis
  • Wild Fang Films

Screenings

Saturday 02 March 2024 10:30
Talent présent  •  
Lieux : Cinémathèque
Audio : French, Arabic, English
Subtitles : English
Screening : Public Screening
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Sunday 03 March 2024 18:30
Talent présent  •  
Lieux : Ciné Utopia
Audio : French, Arabic, English
Subtitles : French
Screening : Public Screening
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Danielle Davie

Danielle Davie
Danielle Davie

Davie is a filmmaker with a PhD in Documentary and Anthropological Cinema from Université Paris Nanterre. She has made multiple short films and experimental documentaries while working as an assistant professor at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts and the Lebanese University. She is also the co-founder of the Rawiyat-Sisters in Film collective of women filmmakers from the Middle East, North Africa, and the diaspora.

More about the director

Filmography

  • Embodied Chorus (documentary, co-directed with Mohammed Sabbah) 2023
  • Les Oiseaux 2019
  • Azouba Range sa Tente 2009
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Mohamad Moe Sabbah

Mohamad Moe Sabbah
Mohamad Moe Sabbah

Sabbah received his BA and MA in filmmaking at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts. After receiving international attention for his short films, he was a guest of the International Class of the Film Academy Ludwigsburg in Germany. He also works as an assistant director and director on TV commercials, campaigns, and music videos.

More about the director

Filmography

  • Embodied Chorus (documentary, co-directed with Danielle Davie) 2023
  • There 2018
  • Chronic 2017
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