After Amnesia: Memory and War in Two Lebanese Films

This article explores themes of collective memory and collective amnesia regarding the Lebanese civil war. By analyzing two narrative films, The Civilized People and In the Battlefields, made by two women directors, Randa Chahal and Danielle Arbid, I look at how films allow the Lebanese to remember the brutality of the war and confront themselves over their responsibility in it. By using narrative films, these two film directors challenged their audience, by claiming that all Lebanese are responsible for the civil war. The two films are examples of artistic productions that challenge the “public amnesia” practiced by most members of the society regarding that war.