My Heart Beats Only for Her
(Lebanon, 2009, 85 min)
By : Mohamed Soueid
Screens: Friday, March 12th, 1:30pm
Synopsis:
Inspired from the Vietnamese revolution, the call to transform every Arab capital into a Haboi for the Palestinian revolution echoed far and wide in the past century's 1960s and 1970s, this documentary film delves into the encounter of the Vietnamese experience with the Palestinian experience, exploring traces of what remains today in Beirut, the Arab capital known to have emblematized, par excellence, the notion of an Arab Hanoi from the moment of the outbreak of the civil war in 1975 until the withdrawl of the Palestinian fighters after the Israeli invasion in 1982.
The film tells the story of Hatem Hatem, known by the nom de guerre as Abu Hassan Hanoi. He was born in south Lebanon and affiliated to Fat'h, fought amongst its brigades. After the Israeli invasion, Abu Hassan Hanoi lost his connection with Fat'h, he moved southward to his native village and distanced himself from political engagement. The only living witness to his biography was his son, Hassan, a filmmaker who lives and works in the UAE.
Throughout the film, which he intended as a letter to his father, Hassan revisits the memory of Fat'h's Vietnamese moment in Lebanon. He travels between Beirut, Dubai and Hanoi, recording significant instances in these three cities, honing on their relationship to revolution, economy, war and urban growth.
