For the screening organized as part of the public program for her exhibition Beast Type Song at Garage, Sophia Al-Maria chose the documentary The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived by Heiny Srour—the first film by a Lebanese female director to have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival (1974).
The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived follows the guerrilla struggle of the liberation movement against the Sultanate of Oman. In 1971, Srour and her team walked 800 kilometers across desert and mountains, under the bombings of the British air force, to reach the conflict zone and document the uprising. The film presents a portrait of a liberated Arab society and explores the British involvement in the Middle East.
Despite its success in Cannes, the film was banned from screening in most Arab countries for its socialist and feminist subtexts.
The film will be presented by the artist Sofia Al-Maria. The screening will be followed by Q&A session with Heiny Srour.
The film will be screened in the original language with Russian subtitles.
The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived
Director: Heiny Srour
Lebanon, France. 62 min. 16+