{"id":111,"date":"2023-11-12T12:37:56","date_gmt":"2023-11-12T12:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daizygedeon.com\/news-blogs-and-cultures\/2023\/11\/12\/full-interview-voice-of-lebanon-sawt-lebnan\/"},"modified":"2024-08-30T07:04:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T07:04:16","slug":"full-interview-voice-of-lebanon-sawt-lebnan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daizygedeon.com\/news-blogs-and-cultures\/2023\/11\/12\/full-interview-voice-of-lebanon-sawt-lebnan\/","title":{"rendered":"Full Interview &#8211; Voice of Lebanon (Sawt Lebnan)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"Full Interview - Voice of Lebanon (Sawt Lebnan)\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cuZKEdAR-dQ?start=132&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap is-cnvs-dropcap-bordered\">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\u2019s Darkest Hour.<\/p>\n<p>SUBSCRIBE | SHARE | LIKE | COMMENT<\/p>\n<p>English Script:<\/p>\n<p>English translation<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nFrom \u201cLebanon Imprisoned Splendour\u201d to \u201cENOUGH! Lebanon\u2019s Darkest Hour\u201d. Two documentaries from the Lebanese Australian filmmaker Daizy Gedeon, that represent her attachment to Lebanon and sadness over what\u2019s 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.<br \/>\nThe 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\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nA little.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nTell us how you adapted and why did you leave Lebanon? Why did your parents decide to leave for Australia?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nMy love for Lebanon started when I came back to Lebanon in my 20\u2019s.<br \/>\nI didn\u2019t 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\u2019t 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\u2019t 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\u2019t affected by them, nor did I understand them because I was watching television and reading newspapers\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nThat shows a different a Lebanon\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nA different one. I wasn\u2019t 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\u2019t know that something was missing in me, but I felt it, and I understood it. And that\u2019s when my love for Lebanon started and I started understanding Lebanon\u2019s story more, and I wanted to know about Lebanon in the 80s. Why there\u2019s war and why the Middle East is in crisis. I wanted to understand the issues more, and we\u2019re still living it now. It\u2019s sad that after all this time we\u2019re still in the same situation and Lebanon\u2019s economy is worse.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWere you able to understand? You wanted to understand, were you able to understand?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nMy first movie with Omar Sharif in the 90s\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWe\u2019re talking about\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nENOUGH<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYour first movie is Imprisoned Splendour.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nCorrect.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYes.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nI 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\u2019t hide the war, nor the bad things. I showed the full picture and\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nThe positive side of Lebanon and its beauty\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThere are a lot of amazing things\u2026the history, the people, the life, the community and the social life\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nThe social life\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThis is amazing in Lebanon, and most people don\u2019t know that outside of Lebanon\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou don\u2019t experience it?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYou can\u2019t. I don\u2019t 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\u2019s natural in Lebanon.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nIt\u2019s normal life.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nIt\u2019s normal correct, but it\u2019s a lifestyle\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nSince you were born.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes, it\u2019s, I don\u2019t know\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWhat about the relationships between people? Did that catch your attention? What caught your attention?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nHow people talk to each other, their conversations, the empathy, the people, the respect, love and worry, they worry about each other\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nThey worry about each other\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThey worry about each other and don\u2019t leave anyone alone. I know that the situation is very difficult now\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWhy did your father leave Lebanon? Why did he leave Lebanon if all of these were available. What did he tell you?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nHe left Lebanon because he understood how politics works here, he knew how bad the situation is. He couldn\u2019t get a job if he didn\u2019t have a connection. He was law abiding and very independent, and if he didn\u2019t have connections\u2026he\u2019s 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\u2019s how his mindset works. He didn\u2019t want to ask for his rights.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nHe refused nepotism.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes, 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nHe wanted to protect you.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nMy mom had relatives in Australia, and they sponsored us that\u2019s why we chose Australia. It was the easiest choice as sponsorship a for relative was an option.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou maintained your Arabic language, how were you able to maintain it? Your parents continued to speak to you in Arabic?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThey 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\u2019t speak it. When I came in the 80s, I couldn\u2019t speak very well, they were laughing at me but not in a bad way. I wasn\u2019t 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\u2019s story then I took this position in the newspaper.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nIn times, BBC\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nNo, at first, in The Australian newspaper.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou left sports journalism.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nCorrect.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWritten sports journalism.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nCorrect.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nFor foreign policies and foreign policy media.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes, at the time\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWhy? To get to know more about what\u2019s happening in Lebanon?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes because\u2026I 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nFor change.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nFor 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\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nSects\u2026don\u2019t worry about it.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nOur sects, and I still have this mindset. All of us as Lebanese, we should come together and claim our rights. That\u2019s my stance, that Lebanon is one and we should come together.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nHave you compared Lebanon and Australia? It\u2019s true that you left when you were five years old, you weren\u2019t maybe familiar with Lebanon, but when you visited Lebanon in your twenties.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nHave you compared Lebanon and Australia?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nSorry, what does that mean?<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nIt means difference.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes, there is a difference. And in my first movie, the question I tried to explore in the beginning was \u201cAm I Lebanese or am I Australian?\u201d<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou lost your identity when you came to Lebanon?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nNo, 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\u2019s beautiful about Australia that the people come from different backgrounds, we have 180\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nCommunities.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nCommunities\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nThey\u2019re different.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThey\u2019re different. The Australian police was having problems with the young generation, they wanted to help them understand. The problem is that they don\u2019t 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\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nEach has their background and traditions\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<\/p>\n<p>And they\u2019re confused. They watched my movie and decided to show this generation\u2026they were in juvenile detention centers, they were arrested because they\u2019re causing problems, to teach them how to think\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nTo know more about their roots?<br \/>\nDaizy<\/p>\n<p>I mean, not to be confused. You can take the best from your parents\u2019 background and the best of what Australia is giving you, combine them and create your own identity, that\u2019s the message of the first movie. They were very happy because this was a simple message\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nTo teach the children\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nHow to think.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nAnd 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?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nImprisoned Splendour because it\u2019s imprisoned by how the media portrays it.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nOh okay, they showed you the war\u2026<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nOnly.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\n\u2026and everyone is seeing the war, not Lebanon\u2019s beauty.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nExactly.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nHow much were you able to change in this movie? Before we move into the second movie.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYou can\u2019t 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\u2019t 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\u2019re still asking for it now. It\u2019s a very good movie because it doesn\u2019t get old.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nIt doesn\u2019t get old.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nCorrect.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nMeaning it applies to all generations and eras.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThe 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\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYes, from Bekaa.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nHis 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou promoted Beirut through the movie.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYeah.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nEnough! Lebanon\u2019s Darkest Hour. Why did you decide to make this movie? It was released recently?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nCorrect.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nBefore the parliamentary elections.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nCorrect.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nIn Lebanon, following the revolution and the August 4 explosion. Why did the Australian-Lebanese filmmaker Daizy Gedeon decide to make this movie?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nI didn&#8217;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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nSomething new.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nI 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\u2019t 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\u2026but 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\u2019s 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 \u201coh my God.\u201d<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou were shocked?<br \/>\nDaizy<\/p>\n<p>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: \u201cLebanon is amazing and it\u2019s the best country in the world\u201d. 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\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nDifficulties.<br \/>\nDaizy<\/p>\n<p>The people are going through difficulties, there\u2019s pain in their eyes and in their voice\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nSuffering.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nSuffering.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou felt their pain, the reason you came for had changed. You were coming to make a movie about change about a better Lebanon\u2026but you stopped, and you didn\u2019t do it anymore.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nNo, I didn\u2019t stop.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nI mean you postponed.<br \/>\nDaizy<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019t simple anymore, and I had to hire an Australian crew. I am not saying that people here aren\u2019t 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWhat did you want to expose? What did you want to show?<br \/>\nDaizy<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019t vote, it\u2019s just words but there are no actions. They have problems but they don\u2019t do what\u2019s 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\u2019ve been released in 2019 but when the revolution started, I was like, \u201cno the story isn\u2019t finished.\u201d 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\u2019t 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nIt was a sensitive time for you.<br \/>\nDaizy<\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t believe what happened, I didn\u2019t believe what happened when I saw the explosion, so I said ENOUGH! That\u2019s it. And when I re-listened to what the people were saying, one word kept repeating which became the new title. It wasn\u2019t called \u201cEnough\u201d at the beginning, it became  \u201cEnough\u201d after the explosion.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nSo, everything changed, the mission you came for 2016, you completed it after 4 years, everything has changed.<br \/>\nDaizy<\/p>\n<p>We included stories in it\u2026but the goal had changed. The question that the movie answers is \u201cHow did we get here?\u201d The question became \u201cHow did we get here?\u201d<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWere you able to deliver the message?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes, a very strong message.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nIf you want to summarize the message you delivered, what would it be?<br \/>\nDaizy<\/p>\n<p>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\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nCongratulations<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThank you.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nToday, you\u2019re an International Peace Leader.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThat\u2019s right.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWe congratulate you.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThank you\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWhat\u2019s the message? Answer me.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThe 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\u2019re giving them the power\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nTo make the country into what it is now.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nWe gave them the power. We can take it from them. It\u2019s in our hands, through our voices. This is our power.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nHow much can this type of movie change the situation in a small country like Lebanon, Daizy Gedeon?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nWhy 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\u2019t 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nEnough! Lebanon\u2019s Darkest Hour, the Lebanese diaspora and expatriates were included in it. Why did you include their participation?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nI 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\u2019t 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\u2019 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWhat did they want to say?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nI asked them about their feelings towards Lebanon. Many left Lebanon long ago and weren\u2019t raised here, but they\u2019re 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\u2019t know how, or they don\u2019t know a way and they need their voices to be heard by the Lebanese here that want change too.<br \/>\nWe have to work together, the people abroad and here, we will understand each other more and improve Lebanon because of what we\u2019ve learned abroad. We need to integrate them in Lebanon. There\u2019s a way of life and a democracy, but no matter how good Lebanon is it hasn\u2019t changed in 40 years. The people are advanced, they wear fancy clothes, go to school and all of that but there\u2019s a certain lifestyle and democracy I don\u2019t know, civil society. There are topics and issues they didn\u2019t tackle because the politicians didn\u2019t let them. We\u2019re moving backwards. The banking system and finance system haven\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n<p>Lebanon will not succeed and will not achieve much if there is no cooperation between the expatriates and the Lebanese people here.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou 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?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThe 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\u2019ve changed their lives, they worked together, or they elected new people. They reached a point where change was necessary. What\u2019s happening with us isn\u2019t new. Many countries have been through it.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nThey were corrupt too? They had corruption.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nA 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nIt seems that it\u2019s time for change, says Daizy Gedeon.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes absolutely.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nThrough the movies you made, why did you receive today the national peace leader award?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nI 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\u2019t only Lebanese, but foreigners from different political organizations and institutions, from the media. They\u2019re beginning to understand because I am talking to them in English. They\u2019re 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nObjectively, you don\u2019t take sides.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nBut 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\u2019t attack anyone when they\u2019re asking questions or when they want them to tell the truth. It\u2019s 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&#8217;s talking that or she\u2019s talking that, but this is the truth. I am not inventing the facts, I am sharing the facts and truth.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou\u2019re showing the truth.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThis is the truth and this why people believe it. You can\u2019t just talk about it, you need to back it up with information. That\u2019s why people respect me and trust me. But I can\u2019t stay credible, or people won\u2019t 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\u2019t want the truth to come out in the open.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nIt bothers them.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nIt bothers and exposes them.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nDid they fight you?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes, when the movie came out, there was an attack on me. I had security for 3 months, I needed to have security.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou had to be careful about your security. Can we say you were threatened?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nYes, and a lot of people and embassies, several ambassadors told me that I shouldn\u2019t\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nAmbassadors.<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nAmbassadors\u2026<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nThat you should take care of yourself?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nThat I am showing things that they don\u2019t want to come out and I\u2019m doing it in English.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nYou posted recently on your page, \u201cIt\u2019s not when, It\u2019s why you should return to Lebanon\u201d Why? Your future project is to stay in Lebanon?<br \/>\nDaizy<br \/>\nI 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, \u201cWhen should we return to Lebanon? I feel like I have to return to work in Lebanon\u201d, I told her it\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<br \/>\nJosephine<br \/>\nWelcome Daizy Gedeon in Lebanon. Our episode ends here dear listeners and audience, we\u2019ll meet next week in another story of success abroad. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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! 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