Two Lenses on Beirut: Screening of A Letter from Beirut, dir. Jocelyne Saab
Join us for a screening of A Letter from Beirut directed by Jocelyne Saab, followed by a conversation with Olivia Melkonian as part of Two Lenses on Beirut: a film programme curated by Emma Bouraba.
Director Jocelyne Saab returns to Beirut three years after the beginning of the Lebanese civil war to capture the impact and scars of the conflict. The film bursts with introspective and candid conversations shared on bus rides, in apartments with friends, as well as with refugees and peacekeepers.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Olivia Melkonian investigating the role of recording in preserving collective memory. This is the final screening of a two part programme.
Emma Bouraba is a film programmer based in London whose research interest lies at the intersection of critical documentaries and the experimental form.
Olivia Melkonian is an audio producer, sound artist/archivist and DJ invested in cultural preservation. In exploring and documenting the Western Armenian experience, she uses audio to work with fragments of memory to reimagine and reconstruct what has been lost, forgotten and misremembered - addressing absences and epistemic gaps. Olivia’s work preserves intangible cultural heritage, exploring how sound-based memory informs collective knowledge and sustains cultural continuity. She is the founder of Analog Armenia, an archival project dedicated to the preservation of Armenian cassettes. Through acts of remembering, she considers how historical consciousness informs contemporary modes of living, learning and connecting.
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Access
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This event will be held in the Galleries. Meet at Reception.
Speakers will use microphones.
This event is wheelchair accessible.
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Event:
Two Lenses on Beirut: Screening of A Letter from Beirut, dir. Jocelyne SaabDates:
30 Apr 2026, 6pm–7.30pmDirector:
Jocelyne Saab
Year:
1978
Running Time:
52 mins