Lebanon - 2005

The Will

Synopsis: The film is a family epic unfolding over three generations with the history of contemporary Lebanon (from 1943 to 2005) as a background. The patriarch of the family mysteriously dies without leaving a will. This seemingly banal event is the sign of a deep crisis of authority. There lies the essence of the Lebanese tragedy.

Pierre Sarraf was born in Beirut in 1975.

After studying chemistry in France and getting an MBA in Canada, he returned to Beirut where he founded a film and video production company called ..né.à Beyrouth Productions, in 2003. He produced Wissam Charaf's short film Hizz ya Wizz, selected in a number of European film festivals, Wael Nouredine's documentary Ce sera beau, from Beirut with love, and 28 discussion programmes about the Euro-Mediterranean partnership for the European Union, programmes which were broadcast on NBN (Lebanese television) and Deutsche Welle (Germany).

Pierre Sarraf is a founding member of the Lebanese Film Festival, established in 2001, and a member of the film committee of the Lebanese Ministry for Culture.

Nadim Tabet was born in Beirut in 1980. His interest in cinema started during his teenage years when he made short videos: Caravane (1997) and Kodak color (1998).

He left Lebanon when he was 18 and went to Paris where he studied history and philosophy. During that period, he continued to make Super-8 mm films: Histoires extraordinaires du cinématographe (2000), Martine et Alia (2001), Passé présent futur (2002), L'arche de Noé (2003).

He is currently doing an M.A. in Film Studies at the Sorbonne, Paris, and finishing editing a short film called Violante (2005), based on a Marcel Proust short story.