When he was 18, Miguel participated in the Lebanese civil war to prove to the society that he "exists" and could fight like a "real man". He fails, becomes a self-destructive person and immigrates to Spain. It's only now - more than 30 years after leaving Lebanon - that Miguel is willing to confront his trauma and the ghosts from his past. Miguel works as an interpreter in Barcelona. At 52, he still hasn't found love and spends his time in the city's gay bars and clubs where he embarks on one violent sexual relationship after another. In fact, Miguel's real name is Michel. He fled war-torn Lebanon in 1983 after fighting in the Mountain War. But above all, Miguel/Michel fled from his family. Today, with this hybrid documentary, he displays his readiness to cast off the burdens of his past. Using his journey from Lebanon to Spain as a starting point, he attempts to revisit his distant past and a country that has never taken his background into consideration.

A film by Eliane Raheb Lebanon/Germany/Spain, selected for the Carthage Film Festival 2021

Statement of intent When I first met Miguel, he told me his amazing story in a kind of monologue, as if he had the urge to liberate himself It inspired me to make a hybrid feature documentary set between Lebanon and Spain that deals with the themes of family, religion and fascism and their impact of human beings' political and sexual identity. Genre : Feature documentary-hybrid Country(ies) of production: Lebanon/Germany/Spain Language: Arabic / French Subtitles: English Estimated running time of the film: 90 Total film budget: 229000 € Producers: Eliane Raheb Director: Eliane Raheb Production Itar Productions (Lebanon) Kabinett Filmproduktion (Germany Méroé films (France) 2017 | JCC, Tunis * Sélection - Takmil (Carthage Pro) * Running time of the submitted copy: 50 * Present status of the film: Post-production, Rough edit * What is still needed to complete the film: Fine cut image edit, Sound edit and sound mixing - Color grading and compositing - Finalizing the animations - Titles * Funds or awards received: 176000 € * Assets needed to complete the budget: 53000 € https://www.jcctunisie.org/eng/takmilFilms.php _________ AR لما بلغ 18 عاماً من عمره، شارك ميغيل في الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية، مقاتلاً يثبت لمجتمعه أنه "موجود" وأنه قادرعلى الحرب كالرجال ال"حقيقيين" لكنه فشل في ما اختاره، وتحوّل إلى إنسان يدمّر ذاته، ثم هاجر إلى إسبانيا الآن فقط، وبعد مرور أكثر من ثلاثين عاماً على هجرته للبنان، اختار ميغيل أن يواجه مخاوفه وأشباح الماضي الذي عاشه نوايا المخرج حين التقيت ميغيل في المرة الأولى، روى لي حكايته الاستثنائية وكأنه يلقي مونولوجاً يحرر نفسه به. تحولت قصته لمصدر إلهامٍ لي،ورأيت نفسي أصنع فيلما طويلا"جديدا" يمزج بين الوثائقي و الروائي٫ تدور أحداثه بين لبنان وإسبانيا او يًعالج مسائل العائلة والدين والفاشية، وتأثيرها على هوية الفرد السياسية والجنسية 2017 | JCC, Tunis * Sélection - تكميل (الأفلام) https://www.jcctunisie.org/ar/takmilFilms.php