LAK ii (Lebanon) is a work in progress.

It is a part of the larger ongoing three-part project, LAK, which follows migratory bird routes. Initiated in 2019, the project emerged from a need to counter the rise of negative nationalism in Eastern Europe and foster broader non-Western solidarities through more-than-human actors. When shared histories across different non-Western regions are in perpetual conflict, I look at birds to offer alternative ways of finding a common thread. If birds inhabit, traverse and are welcomed across different geographies with ritualistic regularity, perhaps our relationship with them, and hence with one another, could also be built not on geopolitical, but on geopoetic terms.

LAK ii (Lebanon) feature film will investigate the practices of hunting and protecting migratory birds in Lebanon. The film will trace how these two archaic and seemingly opposing approaches to engaging with the natural world coexist and what broader meanings they carry. Both hunters and conservationists frequent the same hills and valleys, and both are deeply embedded in the local natural landscapes. Perhaps the key difference lies in their final action. As one hunter-turned-bird photographer poetically noted: "I now use the same viewfinder to see the beauty of life."

The work will emphasize the relationship between the one behind and the one in front of the camera. Moving beyond conventional documentary modes, the fleeting camera movement rather will focus on the context of the conversations and encounters, where I am often positioned as a guest, a migrant, a passer-by. LAK ii will reflect the movement of the birds, mirroring their transitory yet cyclical presence, and explore the enduring relationship between people and these recurring visitors.

Experimental fragment (10 min)

Fragment exhibited as Chou Hilou!? exhibition at Takeover, Beirut (2024)