Mai Masri
2021Masri is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is internationally known for her documentary work. Her solo directorial journey began with the film “Children of Fire” (1990) and continued to include films like “Hanan Ashrawi: Woman for Her Time” (1995), “Children of Shatila” (1998), “Frontiers of Dreams and Fears” (2001), “Beirut Diaries” (2006), “33 Days” (2007). Her latest film was released in 2021 “Beirut: Eye of the Storm”. Her debut feature film “3000 Nights” premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and represented Jordan at the Academy Awards for Foreign Language Film (2015).
Masri co-directed with her late husband filmmaker, Jean Chamoun : “Under the Rubble” (1983), “Wild Flowers” (1986), “War Generation – Beirut” (1988), “Suspended Dreams” (1992), and produced: “In the Shadows of the City” (2000), “Hostage of Time” (1994), “Women Beyond Borders” (2004), “Yearning of the Laurel” (2007), and “Lanterns of Memory” (2009).
Hanan 'Ashrawi: Imra'a Fi Zaman al-Tahaddi
Mai Masri
In the aftermath of the peace accord signed by Israel and the PLO in September of 1995, Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi emerged as a formidable negotiator and a persuasive voice on the international stage. But beyond the polished rhetoric and the public poise, what drives this mother of two whose high profile and personal integrity have made her enemies as well as friends? Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri profiles Ashrawi in this intimate portrait, exploring how she juggles her responsibilities as political activist, writer, and mother—all against the backdrop of challenges facing the Palestinians in their struggle to build a viable state.
Hanan Ashrawi: A Woman of Her Time
Yaumiyat Beirut: haqa'eq wa akadheeb wa
Mai Masri
By focusing on the experiences of 25-year-old Nadine Zaidan, who was one of the thousands of activists who gathered in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square in the chaotic days immediately following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February of 2005, Beirut Diaries explores critical transformations and crucial questions facing contemporary Lebanon. With this insightful video diary, director Mai Masri chronicles the political ferment embodied in the March 11th Movement, also known as The Cedar Revolution, as people of all factions, ages and religious affiliations passionately debate such issues as Syria’s influence in Lebanese politics, the establishment of an international commission to investigate Hariri’s assassination and the organization of free parliamentary elections.
Beirut Diaries: Truth, Lies and Videos
حدود الاحلام والفزع
Mai Masri
Manar Faraj, Mona Zaaroura
This heartfelt documentary from award-winning filmmaker Mai Masri explores the enduring friendship that evolves between two Palestinian girls—Mona, who was born and raised in the economically marginalized Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, and Manar, who lives in the Dheisha refugee camp under Israeli control. The two girls begin their friendship as penpals, sharing the similarities and differences of life in the two refugee camps. Mona and Manar are finally able to meet face-to-face at the Lebanese-Israeli border during Israel's withdrawal from South Lebanon. But when the second intifada suddenly erupts around them shortly thereafter, both girls must face heart-breaking changes in their lives.
Frontiers of Dreams and Fears
Atfal al-Nar
Mai Masri
When filmmaker Mai Masri returned to her hometown of Nablus after a fourteen year absence, she discovered a new generation of Palestinian fighters: the children of the Intifada. Winner of the Award of Public at the Freminin Pluriel Festival, Children of Fire captures their courageous story on film and paints a daring portrait of the Palestinian uprising.
Children of Fire
أطفال شاتيلا
Mai Masri
Many people first became aware of the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon after the shocking and horrific Sabra-Shatila massacre that took place there in 1982. Located in Beirut's "belt of misery," the camp is home to 15,000 Palestinians and Lebanese who share a common experience of displacement, unemployment and poverty. Fifty years after the exile of their grandparents from Palestine, the children of Shatila attempt to come to terms with the reality of being refugees in a camp that has survived massacre, siege and starvation. Director Mai Masri focuses on two Palestinian children in the camp: Farah, age 11 and Issa, age 12. When these children are given video cameras, the story of the camp evolves from their personal narratives as they articulate the feelings and hopes of their generation.
Children of Shatila
33 Yaoum
Mai Masri
33 Days chronicles the efforts of theatre director Sharif Abdunnur, graphic designer Sharif Bibi, journalist Fadia Baszzi and Mariam Al-Bassam, director of the news desk at New TV, as they try to provide emergency aid, report current news of the conflict and help Lebanese children process the violence and destruction they see around them on a daily basis. Masri's film is full of compassion and humanity even as it records the horrible devastation of war.
33 Days
Zahrat al-Qindul
Jean Khalil Chamoun, Mai Masri
Colette O'Neil, Beatie Edney
In this award-winning documentary, directors Masri and Chamoun focus on the women who played a crucial role in fighting the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. Preserving their stories on camera, Wild Flowers: Women of South Lebanon is a poignant documentary about courage, resistance, and hope.
Wild Flowers: Women of South Lebanon
Taht al-Anqad
Jean Khalil Chamoun, Mai Masri
Under the Rubble is the filmmakers’ harrowing attempt to tell the real story behind the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon as it took place in Beirut—a traumatizing experience for the city and its people. This moving and informative documentary won the Special Jury Award at the Valencia Film Festival.
Under the Rubble
مصابيح الذاكرة
Jean Khalil Chamoun, Mai Masri
After her husband was kidnapped in 1982 during the civil war in Lebanon, Wada Hilwani gathered together the families of the kidnap victims and formed the Committee for the Families of the Kidnapped and Missing. Decades after the end of the war, these families continue their painful search for the truth about their loved ones, and for justice against war crimes.
Lanterns of Memory
بيروت: جيل الحرب
Jean Khalil Chamoun, Mai Masri
Filmed on the streets of Beirut, War Generation Beirut is a mesmerizing, award-winning documentary that explores the life experiences of three generations of young people as they struggle to survive in Lebanon’s war-torn capitol city. The film also traces the history and origins of Lebanon's Civil War.
War Generation
أحلام معلقة
Jean Khalil Chamoun, Mai Masri
In Suspended Dreams, Jean Chamoun and Mai Masri link the stories of four people who are attempting to reconstruct their lives after Lebanon's long and devastating civil war. The film features two ex-militia fighters from Beirut; a woman searching for her missing husband; a playwright from southern Lebanon. Each share their lives and hardships amidst the rubble of their war-torn homeland.
Suspended Dreams