Official Trailer for Lebanese Revisiting-the-Past Film ‘Memory Box’
by Alex Billington
June 29, 2022
Source: YouTube
“I don’t recognize my mom. She’s changed so much.” An official trailer is out for a wonderful indie drama titled Memory Box, from Lebanese filmmakers Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige. This premiered at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival last year, and was one of the highlights of the fest, a discovery showcasing a very sentimental and moving story about family and hidden pasts. The film is set partially in Montreal, where it begins. On Christmas Eve, Maia and her teenage daughter Alex receive an unexpected delivery: notebooks, tapes, and photos Maia sent to her best friend from 1980’s Beirut. Maia refuses to open the box or confront its memories, but Alex secretly begins diving into it. Between fantasy and reality, Alex enters the world of her mother’s tumultuous, passionate adolescence during the Lebanese civil war, unlocking mysteries of a hidden past. It’s especially creative with how they work in real archival footage & photos into this story, mixing the past with the present. Starring Rim Turki, Manal Issa, Paloma Vauthier, Michelle Bado, Rita Bado, and Rabih Mroué. This is a really beautiful film for many reasons, it’s definitely worth a look.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige’s Memory Box, on YouTube:
Maia, a single mother, lives in Montreal with her teenage daughter, Alex. On Christmas Eve, they receive an unexpected delivery: notebooks, tapes, and photos Maia sent to her best friend from 1980’s Beirut. Maia refuses to open the box or confront its memories, but Alex secretly begins diving into it. Between fantasy and reality, Alex enters the world of her mother’s tumultuous, passionate adolescence during the Lebanese civil war, unlocking mysteries of a hidden past. Memory Box is directed by Lebanese filmmakers Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, both of the films Around the Pink House, A Perfect Day, and I Want to See previously, plus a few other doc films. The screenplay is written by Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, and Gaëlle Macé; in collaboration with Fadette Drouard. This initially premiered at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival last year. Memory Box opens in select US theaters starting August 5th, 2022 this summer.