Mondial 2010 | Lucía Méndez and the Peace in Lebanon

The screenings of Mondial 2010 by Roy Dib and Lucía Méndez and the Peace in Lebanon by Omar Mismar are part of a longer film program in parallel with the exhibition Home Works 9: Intimate Garden Scene (in Beirut) organized by Ashkal Alwan. 

Mondial 2010

Dir. Roy Dib, 2013

19’, Lebanon

In Arabic with English subtitles

Mondial 2010 is a discussion on institutional borders of the Middle East, shot with a handheld camcorder. In a setting where homosexuality is a punishable felony, a Lebanese gay couple takes a road trip to Ramallah and chronicles their impossible journey. Dib challenges the mainstream view of Palestinian/Israeli conflict that often places the victim/oppressor imagery in the forefront. Through their conversation, they invite the viewer into their own universe of possibility.

Roy Dib (b. 1983, Lebanon) is an artist and filmmaker. His practice is rooted in film, video, and installation. His work weaves together archival material, scripted text, and hypothetical circumstances to chronicle the political narratives of our day. He is the recipient of the Teddy Award for Best Short Film at the Berlinale 2014 for his film Mondial 2010.

Lucía Méndez and the Peace in Lebanon

Dir. Omar Mismar, 2015-2018

13”17’, Mexico/Lebanon

In Arabic with English subtitles

Tú o Nadie (You or No One) was the first Mexican telenovela to air in Lebanon, in 1992, shortly after the Ta’if agreement was signed. Actress Lucía Méndez was the beautiful and sensational Raquel, in front of whom viewers froze infatuated. While her lips swayed in silenced Spanish, we never heard Mendez’s voice, instead we heard an imposed one in Arabic.

This work fancies a connection between the Ta’if, as a dub to the Civil War, and Lucía Méndez, as a representation of the post-war Ta’ifization of cultural production. This time, we hear the protagonist reading principles from the Ta’if in Arabic positing Mendez as a unifying symbol for warring factions.
 
Omar Mismar (b. 1986, Lebanon) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work probes the entanglement of art and politics, and the aesthetics of disaster. Using material interventions, formal deliberations, and translation strategies, Mismar explores conflict and its everyday representations. He has participated in various local and international exhibitions and taught at California College of the Arts, the University of San Francisco, Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, and the American University of Beirut. He is the current art editor of Rusted Radishes. 

Space is limited; first-come first-served, free entrance.