Scouring through over 20,000 archival sources spanning the past seven decades, Lana Daher crafts a beautiful portrait of her homeland Lebanon, and the city of Beirut. The film was made as a love letter to Lebanon, while acknowledging the wars and destruction the country has faced, while also celebrating moments of love, joy, and humour. In addition to serving as an ode to the country, the film also functions as an archive, as Lebanon lacks a national archive, or a comprehensive school curriculum on the nation's history. The fragmented nature of Lebanon’s history, existing in pieces through memory and others’ audiovisual works, is honoured in Do You Love Me, which embraces this fragmentation through its jumping across time and theme.

Through this love letter and archive, Daher maps out the disorienting history of Lebanon through an impressive range of sources, including private footage, films, television shows, pop songs, home videos, and photographs. One notable source is Beyrouth, ma ville, a film by Jocelyne Saab, which is also being screened in this year’s edition. Through her film, Daher constructs a collective memory that brings together everyday life and monumental events, creating a nuanced and layered portrait of the country she loves.

LA