Do You Love Me: A Cinematic Tribute to Beirut's Unbreakable Spirit
In a remarkable cinematic achievement, director Lana Daher presents Do You Love Me, an exhilarating documentary that serves as a profound ode to the collective courage and resilience of the Lebanese people. This freewheeling film, currently showing at the ICA in London from 5th to 19th February, eschews conventional documentary techniques like talking heads and voiceover, opting instead for a more immersive and evocative approach.
A Tapestry Woven from Archival Treasures
Daher draws from an astonishing repository of more than 20,000 hours of archival footage to channel the enduring spirit of Beirut. The film deliberately abandons chronological order, reflecting the non-linear movement of history itself. It zigzags between disparate events, seamlessly blending film clips, newsreels, television programmes, and intimate home videos. This stylistic choice creates a rich tapestry that is both playful and melancholic, powerfully conjuring the precarity of life in the Lebanese capital.
Moments of everyday joy and normality—such as a vibrant wedding celebration or a simple family outing—are thoughtfully interspersed with startling, jarring images of hollowed-out buildings and bombed cars. This juxtaposition underscores a central theme: in Beirut, war can feel never-ending, and peace remains perpetually fragile.
Confronting History with Humour and Beauty
The documentary courageously resurrects painful sociopolitical chapters from Lebanon's past, including the brutal 15-year civil war and repeated invasions by Israel. Yet, Daher's vision is not one of unrelenting gloom. The film makes deliberate room for gentle humour, unexpected beauty, and a celebration of popular culture. Hit pop songs are woven into the narrative, with one particularly exhilarating section set to Dalida's classic disco track Laissez-Moi Danser.
This sequence, featuring dancing scenes from both fiction and reality, is immediately followed by a stark shot of a garbage dump—a poignant, tongue-in-cheek edit that serves as a brutal reminder of the harsh realities facing the nation. This off-kilter rhythm feels like a direct tribute to the collective courage of the Lebanese people, a testament to the idea that amid wartime upheavals and daily struggles, the music, and life, defiantly go on.
A Masterful Editorial Rhythm
Despite being composed of a vast volume of disparate material, Do You Love Me never feels overwhelming. Instead, it maintains a remarkable and fluid rhythm, moving gracefully between states of calm, exuberance, and disorder. This difficult balance is achieved with great virtuosity by editor and co-writer Qutaiba Barhamji, who previously collaborated on documentaries with acclaimed director Kaouther Ben Hania.
The film's genesis is deeply personal and political. Spurred by the erasure of Lebanon's contemporary history within the country's own education system, Daher sought to create an alternative way of narrativising the past. Her work moves boldly away from the rigid, often sanitised confines of institutional historical models, offering instead a living, breathing, and emotionally resonant portrait of a people and their city.
Do You Love Me is more than a documentary; it is a sensory and emotional experience that captures the complex, mercurial heart of Beirut. It stands as a powerful reminder of the strength found in community and culture, even in the face of enduring adversity.
