Full Interview – Voice of Lebanon (Sawt Lebnan)

November 12, 2023

Watch my full interview with Josephine Abi Ghosn from Voice of Lebanon (Sawt Lebnan) discussing my journey to answering this confronting question and why I made my movie ENOUGH! Lebanon’s Darkest Hour.

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English Script:

English translation
Josephine
From “Lebanon Imprisoned Splendour” to “ENOUGH! Lebanon’s Darkest Hour”. Two documentaries from the Lebanese Australian filmmaker Daizy Gedeon, that represent her attachment to Lebanon and sadness over what’s happening in Lebanon, even though she left Lebanon with her parents when she was 5-years-old. Daizy Gedeon will tell us today about why she loves her motherland and if her next project is to go back and settle in Lebanon. From Canada and via zoom, will join us the President of the Lebanese Canadian Association, Nicole Abdel Masih to tell us about their participation in the Lebanese Heritage Month in Canada. Dear audience and listeners you can follow us in audio and video via vdl.me, the application and our social media platforms voice of Lebanon 100.5.
The journalist and filmmaker Daizy Gedeon, I welcome you here today, we wanted to meet you long ago so you can tell us about your activities and your love for Lebanon. You left Lebanon when you were 5-years-old, you speak Arabic…
Daizy
A little.
Josephine
Tell us how you adapted and why did you leave Lebanon? Why did your parents decide to leave for Australia?
Daizy
My love for Lebanon started when I came back to Lebanon in my 20’s.
I didn’t know Lebanon before that, when I came during the war and even in the war, I saw something different because foreign media and news, even now, don’t show the full story of Lebanon. So, when I came during the war, the situation was very difficult, under the bombs and everything, in the 80s, in the late 80s, but I fell in love with Lebanon. I fell in love because I saw things I didn’t expect to see in Lebanon. Different from how I knew Lebanon. My parents told me about Lebanon and stories about their life, but I wasn’t affected by them, nor did I understand them because I was watching television and reading newspapers…
Josephine
That shows a different a Lebanon…
Daizy
A different one. I wasn’t convinced until I came. I fell in love with it at a time when Lebanon was going through very dark days. I experienced a life, I never expected to live. Someone asked me a while ago, a week ago, how did you feel? I told them I swear to God, when I arrived in Lebanon and started to get to know the people, listen to them and feel with them, I felt like I am in my country. That I am finally home. What was missing in me. I didn’t know that something was missing in me, but I felt it, and I understood it. And that’s when my love for Lebanon started and I started understanding Lebanon’s story more, and I wanted to know about Lebanon in the 80s. Why there’s war and why the Middle East is in crisis. I wanted to understand the issues more, and we’re still living it now. It’s sad that after all this time we’re still in the same situation and Lebanon’s economy is worse.
Josephine
Were you able to understand? You wanted to understand, were you able to understand?
Daizy
My first movie with Omar Sharif in the 90s…
Josephine
We’re talking about…
Daizy
ENOUGH
Josephine
Your first movie is Imprisoned Splendour.
Daizy
Correct.
Josephine
Yes.
Daizy
I began to understand Lebanon with my first movie. I wanted to show the full picture to the world, the diaspora and the foreigners. I didn’t hide the war, nor the bad things. I showed the full picture and…
Josephine
The positive side of Lebanon and its beauty…
Daizy
There are a lot of amazing things…the history, the people, the life, the community and the social life…
Josephine
The social life…
Daizy
This is amazing in Lebanon, and most people don’t know that outside of Lebanon…
Josephine
You don’t experience it?
Daizy
You can’t. I don’t know how to explain it. I travelled and lived in the US, England and Australia and I travelled the world because of my work. It’s natural in Lebanon.
Josephine
It’s normal life.
Daizy
It’s normal correct, but it’s a lifestyle…
Josephine
Since you were born.
Daizy
Yes, it’s, I don’t know…
Josephine
What about the relationships between people? Did that catch your attention? What caught your attention?
Daizy
How people talk to each other, their conversations, the empathy, the people, the respect, love and worry, they worry about each other…
Josephine
They worry about each other…
Daizy
They worry about each other and don’t leave anyone alone. I know that the situation is very difficult now…
Josephine
Why did your father leave Lebanon? Why did he leave Lebanon if all of these were available. What did he tell you?
Daizy
He left Lebanon because he understood how politics works here, he knew how bad the situation is. He couldn’t get a job if he didn’t have a connection. He was law abiding and very independent, and if he didn’t have connections…he’s from Rayak, a very poor area. My mom is from the North, from Kousba, her family was well to do, and they helped my father. But that’s how his mindset works. He didn’t want to ask for his rights.
Josephine
He refused nepotism.
Daizy
Yes, he refused nepotism, he wanted to get what he deserved. Then in 1968 Israel bombed the airport, and the Middle East crisis affected Lebanon. He felt that a war was going to start, so he wanted to get the family out of the country.
Josephine
He wanted to protect you.
Daizy
My mom had relatives in Australia, and they sponsored us that’s why we chose Australia. It was the easiest choice as sponsorship a for relative was an option.
Josephine
You maintained your Arabic language, how were you able to maintain it? Your parents continued to speak to you in Arabic?
Daizy
They continued to speak to me in Arabic and my mom opened the first Arabic school in Australia and she asked us to join it. We used to go to school and learn nothing, we were arrogant. I learned nothing, and this is my fault. But when I hear Arabic, I understand because they spoke at home in Arabic, but I couldn’t speak it. When I came in the 80s, I couldn’t speak very well, they were laughing at me but not in a bad way. I wasn’t offended. But what improved my Arabic were my regular visits. Since 1988, I came a million times because I got involved in the Middle East crisis and Lebanon’s story then I took this position in the newspaper.
Josephine
In times, BBC…
Daizy
No, at first, in The Australian newspaper.
Josephine
You left sports journalism.
Daizy
Correct.
Josephine
Written sports journalism.
Daizy
Correct.
Josephine
For foreign policies and foreign policy media.
Daizy
Yes, at the time…
Josephine
Why? To get to know more about what’s happening in Lebanon?
Daizy
Yes because…I returned from the Olympics Games, I was covering the Olympic Games for the newspaper in Australia. Then I went immediately to Europe then to Lebanon. When I came to Lebanon, I opened my eyes, I said there are more important things than sports. I love sports but topics that affect the world and the people opened my eyes that I should work in something more important than sports.
Josephine
For change.
Daizy
For change, and since then I still want to change, to improve things for people and for the country, by following the law and in a democratic way. We should all come together as Lebanese people irrespective of our sects…
Josephine
Sects…don’t worry about it.
Daizy
Our sects, and I still have this mindset. All of us as Lebanese, we should come together and claim our rights. That’s my stance, that Lebanon is one and we should come together.
Josephine
Have you compared Lebanon and Australia? It’s true that you left when you were five years old, you weren’t maybe familiar with Lebanon, but when you visited Lebanon in your twenties.
Daizy
Yes.
Josephine
Have you compared Lebanon and Australia?
Daizy
Sorry, what does that mean?
Josephine
It means difference.
Daizy
Yes, there is a difference. And in my first movie, the question I tried to explore in the beginning was “Am I Lebanese or am I Australian?”
Josephine
You lost your identity when you came to Lebanon?
Daizy
No, I was confused. I asked myself am I Lebanese or Australian? Because I felt that I am both. The mystery is solved in the movie, and what’s beautiful about Australia that the people come from different backgrounds, we have 180…
Josephine
Communities.
Daizy
Communities…
Josephine
They’re different.
Daizy
They’re different. The Australian police was having problems with the young generation, they wanted to help them understand. The problem is that they don’t know their background, from Serbia or Yugoslavia or Russia or France or Lebanon. A generation is growing up without knowing their background because at home is different than at school and the outside world…
Josephine
Each has their background and traditions…
Daizy

And they’re confused. They watched my movie and decided to show this generation…they were in juvenile detention centers, they were arrested because they’re causing problems, to teach them how to think…
Josephine
To know more about their roots?
Daizy

I mean, not to be confused. You can take the best from your parents’ background and the best of what Australia is giving you, combine them and create your own identity, that’s the message of the first movie. They were very happy because this was a simple message…
Josephine
To teach the children…
Daizy
How to think.
Josephine
And from where they come from. You wanted to show that Lebanon is imprisoned? That this beautiful country is imprisoned? Why did you choose Lebanon Imprisoned Splendour as a title?
Daizy
Imprisoned Splendour because it’s imprisoned by how the media portrays it.
Josephine
Oh okay, they showed you the war…
Daizy
Only.
Josephine
…and everyone is seeing the war, not Lebanon’s beauty.
Daizy
Exactly.
Josephine
How much were you able to change in this movie? Before we move into the second movie.
Daizy
You can’t imagine how many awards it won, it was selected by the International Human Rights Xommission, and they gave me an award because this movie isn’t only for Lebanon but for other countries as well. We also managed to have it qualified for an Academy Award in the 1998. I never imagined that it will be that successful, but it had a lot of impact. They’re still asking for it now. It’s a very good movie because it doesn’t get old.
Josephine
It doesn’t get old.
Daizy
Correct.
Josephine
Meaning it applies to all generations and eras.
Daizy
The best thing is that I managed to get Omar Sharif, a world-famous celebrity to talk about his love for Lebanon. Everyone knows him as an Egyptian, and he was born in Egypt, but his parents are Lebanese from Chtoura…
Josephine
Yes, from Bekaa.
Daizy
His name is Michel Chalhoub, he changed it to Omar Sharif after he became a Hollywood star. When I sat with him and talked, if you see the movie, I should send it to you, he gets excited about Lebanon. He told us that when he was filming Lawrence of Arabia with Peter Toole, they were given 3 or 4 days off every two weeks to do whatever they want, and every time he wanted to come to Lebanon, to come to Beirut. They loved Beirut a lot.
Josephine
You promoted Beirut through the movie.
Daizy
Yeah.
Josephine
Enough! Lebanon’s Darkest Hour. Why did you decide to make this movie? It was released recently?
Daizy
Correct.
Josephine
Before the parliamentary elections.
Daizy
Correct.
Josephine
In Lebanon, following the revolution and the August 4 explosion. Why did the Australian-Lebanese filmmaker Daizy Gedeon decide to make this movie?
Daizy
I didn’t know what I came here to do. I just heard a voice in 2016, because after making the first movie, I knew that I would be back to make another movie about Lebanon, but I wanted to give time for change in Lebanon. Documentaries take time, and they should allow time for change.
Josephine
Something new.
Daizy
I always knew, since the moment I finished (my first movie) that the time would come. And I heard a voice that the time had come. I was going through very hard times, through a divorce, I was expanding my company, and I had three little children, but this voice in my head became very loud. I had no time, and it wasn’t the right time. But after it became so loud, I decided to come. Okay, I thought I was coming to make a movie about how Lebanon had improved, how it changed after the war, after the late Rafik El Hariri, may God rest his soul in peace, made improvements for Lebanon…but when I came, I came in 2017, after I made the necessary preparations to come, I came for 6 or 7 weeks. We wanted to hire Lebanese people, I thought it’s going to be a short movie. I came for 6 weeks, going all around Lebanon, talking to the Lebanese people and doing interviews with politicians. After I went back to Australia, I said “oh my God.”
Josephine
You were shocked?
Daizy

By the problems. I had been going back and forth to Lebanon for the past 20 or 30 years and every time the Lebanese would say how: “Lebanon is amazing and it’s the best country in the world”. This trip, it was the first time that no one said these words to me. The silence was loud. It was so loud and clear that something had changed. That they were going through difficulties…
Josephine
Difficulties.
Daizy

The people are going through difficulties, there’s pain in their eyes and in their voice…
Josephine
Suffering.
Daizy
Suffering.
Josephine
You felt their pain, the reason you came for had changed. You were coming to make a movie about change about a better Lebanon…but you stopped, and you didn’t do it anymore.
Daizy
No, I didn’t stop.
Josephine
I mean you postponed.
Daizy

No we were coming back to film in the winter also, we came in the summer and we were coming back with a bigger and better crew for the movie, because I realized it had to be something more professional because the story wasn’t simple anymore, and I had to hire an Australian crew. I am not saying that people here aren’t good, but I wanted to produce a film in an international way. We wanted to make a movie that was going to be screened, known and respected on the world stage because the story was so serious and it had to be told.
Josephine
What did you want to expose? What did you want to show?
Daizy

The corruption, the corruption. When I came in 2018, I came one week before the 2018 parliamentary elections, to see if the people will do something this time. When I came in 2017 and I saw the suffering, I wanted to see if they will get excited and vote but you see what happened in the movie. It saddens me because they didn’t vote, it’s just words but there are no actions. They have problems but they don’t do what’s necessary to solve them. I talked about this in the movie, I start the story from 2017 until 2018. I show them what happened during the elections. I show the statistics, then we get into the revolution and the explosion. My movie should’ve been released in 2019 but when the revolution started, I was like, “no the story isn’t finished.” So we came back and filmed the revolution and to stand with the people. I was very happy, thank God they finally understood and took action because they have to. If they don’t take action, nothing will change. Then when I wanted to end the movie, the explosion happened, so I was forced to include it, this was a very hard time.
Josephine
It was a sensitive time for you.
Daizy

I didn’t believe what happened, I didn’t believe what happened when I saw the explosion, so I said ENOUGH! That’s it. And when I re-listened to what the people were saying, one word kept repeating which became the new title. It wasn’t called “Enough” at the beginning, it became “Enough” after the explosion.
Josephine
So, everything changed, the mission you came for 2016, you completed it after 4 years, everything has changed.
Daizy

We included stories in it…but the goal had changed. The question that the movie answers is “How did we get here?” The question became “How did we get here?”
Josephine
Were you able to deliver the message?
Daizy
Yes, a very strong message.
Josephine
If you want to summarize the message you delivered, what would it be?
Daizy

The most important reason why we launched the film in Lebanon, it was nominated at the Cannes film festival in 2021, it won an award there, and now it has won 26 awards…
Josephine
Congratulations
Daizy
Thank you.
Josephine
Today, you’re an International Peace Leader.
Daizy
That’s right.
Josephine
We congratulate you.
Daizy
Thank you…
Josephine
What’s the message? Answer me.
Daizy
The most important part of the message is that we gave them the power with our votes and silence, and depending whether we vote or not, we’re giving them the power…
Josephine
To make the country into what it is now.
Daizy
We gave them the power. We can take it from them. It’s in our hands, through our voices. This is our power.
Josephine
How much can this type of movie change the situation in a small country like Lebanon, Daizy Gedeon?
Daizy
Why am I who I am today? Because I grew up watching movies that turned me into who I am today. They had an influence on me. Justice, human rights, democracy, peace, there are movies about everything and there are classics that have changed the world. They talk about history and they are true stories. Also, the books I read change the way you think because I know that we can change, and that movies have more influence than books, because the majority of people watch movies. They enjoy watching movies, they don’t enjoy reading. Few people read these days, so if you want to deliver your message to the largest number of people, you have to make a movie.
Josephine
Enough! Lebanon’s Darkest Hour, the Lebanese diaspora and expatriates were included in it. Why did you include their participation?
Daizy
I have been an expatriate for 40 years, and there are Lebanese expatriates abroad more than there are Lebanese people in Lebanon. And these expatriates, like me, feel for Lebanon, they have a love for Lebanon and are worried about Lebanon. Despite how many years it has been years, I know how much they give to Lebanon. We all give to Lebanon, and we all want to help Lebanon. So, I said I can’t make a movie about Lebanon without including them in it because they have an important role to play and you saw that during the elections, how important the expatriates’ role was in the elections. And after the revolution and the explosion, there was a new revival. I started the movie in 2017-2018, and I spoke with and included the expatriates because their voice is important.
Josephine
What did they want to say?
Daizy
I asked them about their feelings towards Lebanon. Many left Lebanon long ago and weren’t raised here, but they’re still attached to Lebanon, there is still something that connects them to Lebanon. But those who left Lebanon during the war or recently are attached to Lebanon in a way that they want to help but they don’t know how, or they don’t know a way and they need their voices to be heard by the Lebanese here that want change too.
We have to work together, the people abroad and here, we will understand each other more and improve Lebanon because of what we’ve learned abroad. We need to integrate them in Lebanon. There’s a way of life and a democracy, but no matter how good Lebanon is it hasn’t changed in 40 years. The people are advanced, they wear fancy clothes, go to school and all of that but there’s a certain lifestyle and democracy I don’t know, civil society. There are topics and issues they didn’t tackle because the politicians didn’t let them. We’re moving backwards. The banking system and finance system haven’t progressed. Lebanon had the best banking and finance system in the world. We moved backwards because nothing has changed, these ideas and way of business. We need to reach an understanding together to work for a better Lebanon.

Lebanon will not succeed and will not achieve much if there is no cooperation between the expatriates and the Lebanese people here.
Josephine
You mean closeness. You mentioned that you want to deliver a message against corruption and for change. In your opinion, how does change start in Lebanon to fight corruption?
Daizy
The most important thing, like I said, is using our voices but not in shouting, our voices in the elections, this is the only way, if you have studied history. The history of countries and how they’ve changed their lives, they worked together, or they elected new people. They reached a point where change was necessary. What’s happening with us isn’t new. Many countries have been through it.
Josephine
They were corrupt too? They had corruption.
Daizy
A lot, but I am talking history, 100 years ago, 500 and 1000 years ago. How did America progress? How did France change? How did the UK transform? Corruption is everywhere.
Josephine
It seems that it’s time for change, says Daizy Gedeon.
Daizy
Yes absolutely.
Josephine
Through the movies you made, why did you receive today the national peace leader award?
Daizy
I get invited to conferences and forums to talk about Lebanon and the way I am showing Lebanon and I am telling stories about Lebanon, it is impacting people who aren’t only Lebanese, but foreigners from different political organizations and institutions, from the media. They’re beginning to understand because I am talking to them in English. They’re hearing what I am saying and because I am independent, I am always independent, I talk about the corruption, and I show the full picture.
Josephine
Objectively, you don’t take sides.
Daizy
But in the movie, everything is clear, I talk with all sides and sects. They get to tell their stories. I am not hiding anything. We should know that in media, a good journalist, a respectful journalist, they don’t attack anyone when they’re asking questions or when they want them to tell the truth. It’s our responsibility to show the truth. To gather information, do our studies, our research and show the full story. This person is saying that, but this is the truth. He’s talking that or she’s talking that, but this is the truth. I am not inventing the facts, I am sharing the facts and truth.
Josephine
You’re showing the truth.
Daizy
This is the truth and this why people believe it. You can’t just talk about it, you need to back it up with information. That’s why people respect me and trust me. But I can’t stay credible, or people won’t continue to trust me unless I follow this method of working. I want them to know that I am not here to talk bad about Lebanon or anyone else. I am here to show the truth. But we know that there are people who don’t want the truth to come out in the open.
Josephine
It bothers them.
Daizy
It bothers and exposes them.
Josephine
Did they fight you?
Daizy
Yes, when the movie came out, there was an attack on me. I had security for 3 months, I needed to have security.
Josephine
You had to be careful about your security. Can we say you were threatened?
Daizy
Yes, and a lot of people and embassies, several ambassadors told me that I shouldn’t…
Josephine
Ambassadors.
Daizy
Ambassadors…
Josephine
That you should take care of yourself?
Daizy
That I am showing things that they don’t want to come out and I’m doing it in English.
Josephine
You posted recently on your page, “It’s not when, It’s why you should return to Lebanon” Why? Your future project is to stay in Lebanon?
Daizy
I was in a film festival, 2 or 3 weeks ago, and there was a girl, we were in a panel, and a Lebanese girl living in England asked me a question, asked the panel a question, “When should we return to Lebanon? I feel like I have to return to work in Lebanon”, I told her it’s not when, the timing is not the issue. It is WHY you should return. If you know why, if you think about what you should do, what you should give and if there’s a goal, everything becomes clear. I know, a year and a half ago, I moved permanently to Lebanon. I said goodbye to kids, to my father, my sister, my brother and my friends, and I came back to Lebanon because I knew this was the right time to be in Lebanon if I really wanted to help Lebanon.
Josephine
Welcome Daizy Gedeon in Lebanon. Our episode ends here dear listeners and audience, we’ll meet next week in another story of success abroad.