Traversées Libanaises | Souha, survivre à l’enfer

Tuesday, October 6, 2026 · 7:00 p.m.

Editorial

“Traversées libanaises” – Cinema, memory and lives in wartime

A cycle of Lebanese films at the heart of the memories, wounds and resistance of a country told through its cinema.

Through « Traversées libanaises », the Collectif pour le Liban offers a film club devoted to Lebanese cinema and the stories that have traversed the country from the war years to the present day.

Far from a simple historical reading of conflicts, this cycle invites us to discover how Lebanese filmmakers have filmed intimacy, commitments, absences, traumas, but also the bursts of life that persist at the heart of the darkest periods. Cinema becomes a space for memory, transmission and dialogue, where images make it possible to question Lebanon’s history, its fractures and its hopes for reconstruction.

In a context where the country continues to undergo profound crises, these works offer a sensitive view of the human experiences behind political events: love stories separated by the borders of war, collective struggles, personal bereavements, forgotten voices and generations seeking to tell their own memories.

Souha, survivre à l’enfer

by Randa Chahal Sabbag | 2000 | France | 56 min

A Christian communist activist from southern Lebanon, which she had always known under Israeli occupation, Souha Béchara attempts to assassinate General Lahd, head of the South Lebanon Army, an auxiliary force of Israel. Gravely wounded, he narrowly escapes death. At 21, Souha is imprisoned and tortured for a long time. She spends 10 years in the Khiam camp, six of them in total isolation. On May 24, 2000, after 23 years of occupation, Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon. The Khiam camp is stormed by the crowd… The film retraces Souha’s return to her village of Deir Mimas, to the Khiam camp, and to the very place where she attempted to assassinate General Lahd.

The Collectif pour le Liban

Created in the wake of the 2024 war in Lebanon, the « Collectif Pour le Liban » works through cultural and artistic initiatives to express solidarity with the Lebanese people affected by violence, promote the transmission of Lebanese memory and culture, and raise public awareness of the realities and issues surrounding the situation in Lebanon.

Practical information

Join the Facebook event

€10 admission, no membership required / reduced rate €5: proceeds from the evening will be donated to support people displaced in Lebanon because of the war

The box office opens 30 minutes before the start of each screening.

We operate on a pay-what-you-can basis (each person pays what they want/can/feel is fair). We believe in pay-what-you-can pricing as a way for everyone to experience what interests them and to value the work accomplished as they see fit.

The cycle’s screenings