TO CLOSE YOUR EYES AND SEE FIRE

BRUNO KREISKY FORUM AT THE CINEMA

Location:
Vienna City Cinema, Akademiestraße 13, 1010 Vienna

Screening and Panel Discussion
TO CLOSE YOUR EYES AND SEE FIRE

Beirut uprising in 2019, the explosion of the port in 2020, dangers for a civil war and the effects of war and conflicts in the neighbourhood have all contributed to the chronic political deadlock, economic collapse, and social fragmentation in Lebanon. The film To Close Your Eyes and See Fire by Nicola von Leffern and Jakob Carl Sauer is a cinematic exploration of memory, loss, and resilience in the city of Beirut. Despite all challenges, there has been remarkable creativity, cultural expression, and civic engagement. However, the question remains: who will leave the country and at what cost?

Set against the backdrop of Lebanon's turbulent recent history and the citizens of Beirut portrayed in the film, Katharina Wagner (ORF) will discuss with Mohanad Hage Ali, esteemed academic and political journalist, the perspectives for Beirut, Lebanon and the region given not only the challenges but also the many voices of those who do not give up striving for peace, justice and a better future.

The Bruno Kreisky Forum for international Dialogue together with Golden Girls Filmproduction www.goldengirls.at and city cinema www.stadtkinowien.at cordially invites you to this film screening and the afterward public discussion, followed by a closing reception in the Foyer.

Please note: The film will be in Arabic with English subtitles, the discussion will be held in English.

Tickets for the screening are 10,50 EUR.

Mohanad Hage Ali is the Deputy Director for Research at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut. An academic and political journalist, he holds a PhD and MSc in Conflict Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science. In addition to his role at Carnegie, Hage Ali teaches political science at Emory University and has lectured at the Lebanese American University. He is the author of Nationalism, Transnationalism, and Political Islam: Hezbollah's Institutional Identity (2017) and co-editor of A Restless Revival: Political Islam after the 2011 Uprisings.

Moderator:

Katharina Wagner, journalist at the foreign news department of the Austrian broadcaster ORF. She worked several years as a correspondent for ORF in Paris and Rome and was Bureau Chief of the broadcaster's office in Istanbul and Tehran until recently.