Witness

Anxious in Beirut: Capturing a city’s struggle for survival

Living with constant anxiety in Lebanon, Zakaria Jaber documents the revolution, COVID-19 and the Beirut port explosion over three years.

In the ever-present desire to capture, record and understand Beirut – and by extension himself – director Zakaria Jaber has been trying to tell a coherent story of his city. Towards the end of 2019, the situation in Lebanon led to a continuous barrage that helped materialise the story of Beirut, and its culmination in a series of events in fluctuating climaxes. Anxious in Beirut is Zakaria’s personal diary that documents these events – the revolution, destruction and demonstrations. These events, which have happened before and will happen again, are part of the cyclical nature of this city. The differing details only give rise to new observable symptoms and new forms of necessary adaptability, to an older more inherent systemic problem. Anxious in Beirut is a documentary film by Zakaria Jaber.