Movie: Em Hassoun
Director: Elie Sahyoun
“The world needs strong women. Women who will lift and build others, who will love and be loved, women who live bravely, both tender and fierce, women of indomitable will.” – Amy Tenney
Women are born different. Since the beginning of their lives, they are mostly marginalised and separated from mainstream society. But still, women struggle and come out stronger. All over the world, women are becoming more and more independent and taking over the responsibilities of their families.
The movie Em Hassoun is a beautiful portrayal of womanhood and resilience. This movie is a portrait into the lives of Em Hassoun and her husband, the director’s grandparents. The movie shows their stories- of their marriage, lives and past experiences together.
The titular character Em Hassoun is an embodiment of strength, perseverance and resilience. Her struggle as a woman.
The film is set in Lebanon and showcases the Lebanese way of life very well. Their cultural background as well as political background is depicted so well. The director also shows how different situations change the way a family works.
Lebanon has been a land of conflict due to various complications and the people of the place had to suffer terrible outcomes. But just as the rose blooms within the thorns, just like the buttercup blossoms in the warzones, love too bloomed in the land. Em Hassoun and her husband’s story is heartwarming and shows us the innocent side of love.
Em Hassoun used to be a seamstress and used to come to her husband’s mother for lessons. This was when he fell in love with her and married her. With their union, love showered in the ravaged land. Her husband has been so loving and kind, and as the documentary shows, he acknowledges her contributions and places her in a place of dignity. It is very refreshing, and no doubt, inspiring to see a man of old time being so supportive of his wife. Em Hassoun and her husband are true inspiration for this generation.
Director Elie Sahyoun is a film studies student of the Holy Spirit University of Usek Kaslik. He has directed this documentary as a part of his project. It is very heartwarming to see his personal involvement with this project. This project also shows how close he has been with his grandparents. The director is brilliant in his job and has a sensitive eye that shows a promising future. Elie shows great potential. Every frame of this documentary is well shot, and brings out the essence. The footage from the past adds a great element to the narrative. The old footage gives us a glimpse of the lives that we have been listening to and it is a great way to make the viewers reconnect with the story. Elie deserves an applause for picking up such a great topic for his directorial debut. In the documentary, Ramza portrays Em Hassoun and she has been extremely convincing.
The movie shows the director’s potential of storytelling and gives us a beautiful tale of love, family and tradition. Hope, the director brings in more such brilliant tales for us.
