Through the lens of citizens, artists, and filmmakers, Do You Love Me by Lana Daher tells a powerful and moving story about the complexities of life in Lebanon, compiling archival footage from over 20,000 sources to document Lebanese history, politics, and society.
Rather than featuring traditional talking head interviews, Daher offered a more artistic approach to her documentary feature by highlighting a selection of television shows, film clips, newsreels, and home videos, which effectively captured the essence of life in Beirut. The film offers glimpses of violence and destruction, but also joy and love, setting a melancholic and at times upbeat tone for viewers to sit with.
Do You Love Me does not follow a chronological sequence of events to reflect the non-linear patterns of history. It takes audiences back and forth between moments of loss – childhood homes reduced to stone and dust – and moments of celebration – weddings, birthdays, and laughter – to channel Lebanon’s resilience amidst political conflict.
Alongside footage of exploded buildings from repeated Israeli airstrikes, there is a focus on music and popular culture. Namely, the 1979 song “Monday, Tuesday… Laissez-moi danser”, a disco anthem representing freedom, joy, resilience, and an escape from war, was set to a sequence of clips in which people danced with their friends and family. As these scenes get enveloped between images of destruction, Daher shows how peace and happiness can be fleeting emotions and are often interrupted by the intensity of war. Simultaneously, however, Daher demonstrates that to live in Lebanon is to experience that joy, no matter how brief or how temporary.
One of the most remarkable aspects of this documentary is how Daher was able to convey a wide array of emotions, experiences, and perspectives about wartime and the moments in between. For example, she includes a scene from Jean Khalil Chamoun’s drama film, In The Shadows of the City, which portrays the Lebanese civil war from the point of view of a 12-year-old boy. On the other hand, the short film Aoede by Noel Paul is about a sailor who is forced to leave his girlfriend behind in Beirut, which tells a story about migration, isolation, and displacement. Daher even delves into the psychological impacts of war with a scene from Wissam Charaf’s fictional short film, L’Armée des fourmis, wherein the main character loses his sense of self after fixating on a mysterious discovery. In this way, Daher pieces together fragments of history and memory to narrativize the Lebanese psyche.
Do You Love Me makes beautiful work of preserving the memories, history, and life of a country that lacks a unified national archive. It not only teaches the crucial moments of history, but it also celebrates creative expression, something that is often in danger during periods of political unrest. By balancing moments of joy and loss, Daher proves that Lebanon is not just a statistic of war and violence – it is a nation marked by its unwavering resilience and ability to love.
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