Poetic images of everyday life from the Shatila camp in southern Beirut. Created in 1949 to house displaced Palestinians, the site went on to gain horrific notoriety through the massacre that occurred there in 1982. In the wake of the Syrian civil war, the number of people living in the camp has multiplied once again. Since the devastating port explosion of 2020, the Alhaddad family has been mourning Houda, a girl who died in the tragic accident. Despite their disconcerting beauty, the film’s quiet, mostly black and white images are deeply imbued with the shocks of the past and the precarious living conditions. Over a period of two years, Italian filmmaker Giovanni C. Lorusso visited this place and its people and created a calm documentary masterpiece reminiscent of Pedro Costa’s films, enriched with the ghosts of fiction.

Giovanni C. Lorusso, born in Sardinia/Italy in 1981, has a university education in literature in Rome, philosophy in London and film directing at the Sydney Film School. For 15 years, he has worked as a cinematographer in Oceania, Europe and Africa. In 2024, his debut film as a director, SONG OF ALL ENDS, had its international premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. His second feature documentary, A MAN FELL, was selected for the 81st Venice International Film Festival. He is an accredited member of the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) and has published three books on photography.

Filmography: 2024 SONG OF ALL ENDS; A MAN FELL

Awards: SNCCI Critics’ Award (African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival – FESCAAAL, Milan/Italy 2024)