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First documentary film about the (saints) Valley of Qannoubine in North Lebanon





The first new documentary film in terms of form and substance about the (saints) Valley of Qannoubine in North Lebanon

(Translated by: the Middle EastTimes Int'l)

  

In its first experience in a documentary, " Al-Nashra" worked over six months to produce a written and photographed documentary about the Valley of the Saints which holds a spiritually and socially almost extinguished history after nearly 1600 years of rootedness in a land that graduated saints among its monks who integrated with the parents in Qannoubine valley.

This work, which took a long period for research with the development of frameworks, to differ in terms of form and content from the rest of television productions, went into the depth of the region's history to illuminate the Lebanese heritage which brightened the Middle East with its resistance, structure and deep presence in the culture and civilization.

This work hoping it will illuminate the importance of Lebanon's identity and mission in the Middle who is boiling on terrorism.

This documentary (of 47 minutes and 42 seconds duration), is the result of a teamwork consisting of the colleague Marcel Irani as a researcher and author who gave attention to the smallest details, Yorgo Rahal as TV editing, Bilal Salama as photographer and an army of helpers throughout the preparations and shooting.

Documentary captures history of Holy Valley

 

QANNOUBINE, Lebanon: In a string of caves buried in north Lebanon’s Qadisha Valley, paintings – hundreds of years old – tell the story of the pious monastic life that once thrived there. Such stories were uncovered as part of the “Caves of the Valley” documentary, which is being filmed as part of the comprehensive cultural survey project of the valley of north Lebanon. The project comes after more than a hundred caves and hermitage sites were discovered there.

The movie employed modern filming techniques in order to make the video appealing for an international audience. The director compared the video quality to that of National Geographic and said he plans to show the video at international film festivals.

“It took the specialized filming crew more than a year of strenuous and risky adventures to reach all the caves dispersed in the valley,” said Milad Tawq, the film’s director and director of photography.

“This hard work required will, determination, toughness and faith amongst harsh natural conditions and in a rough terrain full of risks.”

Qadisha Valley, otherwise known as the Holy Valley, is divided into three parts: the eastern part near Saint Lishaa, the central part in Qannoubine Valley and the western part near Our Lady of Hamatoura and Qozhaya Monastery.

Several of the caves are carved deep underground with stalactites and stalagmites like Al-Atem, Al-Habiss, Barzo, Shamaa and Qantara.

Other kinds of caves are former hermitage sites, where monks used to live ascetic lives withdrawn from society. They include the caves of Saint Estefan, Mahbasa, Morbo, Shothit and Brohit.

In ancient times, several caves were turned into cemeteries for these monks like Al-Abed, Al-Mahbous, Our Lady of Generosity and St. Simon.

 

Other caves discovered in the valley had artwork on their walls, relics of the people that once lived there during ancient times. Such caves include Naameh and Shamas. In the White Lily cave, Malak cave and Al-Halyan, the colorful paintings depict the history of the Qadisha Valley.

“Caves of the Valley” has captured the rich history of the valley through its caves, a project meant to promote the unique cultural heritage uncovered in the area. The documentary was produced by the Patriarchate League of Qannoubine, and was financed by the Issam Fares Foundation.

“We have used modern and special techniques especially to capture the bright, dry, dark and water-submerged caves,” Tawq said. “The lenses and the lightning equipment used are internationally certified and also used by the high-quality documentaries of the National Geographic channel.”

The film depicts the caves throughout the four seasons, Tawq said.

“In some times we had to wait for the water level to lower a little so that we can enter the caves and film them. At the end the film included all the caves whether the deep caves, spiritual, cemeteries or artistic or was used for residential needs by the valley residents.”

In terms of documentary picture quality, the film is the first of its kind for Lebanon, Tawq said.

“It documents a lost society that perished with time, due to natural factors and human negligence.”

Tawq noted that the film will be screened in the international festivals for documentary films in France, Italy the United States and elsewhere.

The first screening of the film will be at the summer headquarters of the Maronite Patriarchate at the Kesrouan village of Diman in August.

The screening will be attended by Patriarch Beshara Rai, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir and President Michel Sleiman, who has shown enormous support to the project, Tawq said.

        

The project is part of a bigger goal to raise awareness about the religious history of the valley.

In May, UNESCO agreed to finance the Maronite Patriarchate’s project to conduct rehabilitation works in the Qannoubine Valley village, part of an area classified as a World Heritage Site.

Rai has tapped two local architectural firms to prepare plans to revitalize area villages and turn Qannoubine Valley village, land owned by the Patriarchate, into a model village to highlight the region’s history of spiritual activity.

The dirt road, which will be rehabilitated by UNESCO, is 4 kilometers long and links Saint Lishaa monastery and Qannoubine Valley village in the qada of Bsharri.

All the paths to be constructed should maintain their rural character. Two stone paths along the sides of the road will remain unpaved following the renovation.

The executive coordinator of the Comprehensive Cultural Survey of the valley and script writer George Arab spoke about the difficulties they faced during the project.

“Discovering all the caves, hermitages and landmarks of the valley were some of the hardest phases of the project, but we succeeded though it was risky,” Arab said. “We uncovered remains that tell the story of people who were content with the minimum resources as a way to preserve their faith and freedom.”

The film will be adapted into Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, he said.

Christians should find the documentary particularly interesting, as it discusses the history of their religion in the country.

“This knowledge is the key to their survival,” he said. “They should always listen to the bells of the Holy Valley, which rang for the first time in 1112 in Qannoubine Monastery and still do. They should know the biggest challenge is to keep these bells ringing loudly.”