The one man village - سمعان بالضيعة

Making of "The one man village"

This documentary focuses on the Lebanese old way of life. The director Simon El-Haber was somewhat lucky to find a relative (his uncle) who made a choice to distance himself away from the city into an inhabited village where he will become later the only resident. The film would've been a documentary around the traditional Lebanese village, but the presence of only one man in the village, and the fact that the village was emptied during the war raises several questions in the viewers mind. Although peace is reigning nowadays, the vast majority of the residents have chosen to remain in the city, with the exception of this one man who didn't find in the city what attracted the others. He is yet to found a family, the emphasis on this issue was somewhat ridiculously funny in the movie especially when the director asked this same question (I remember one audience member who made a joke that this might be the most original way for a marriage advertisement). All in all, the viewer will be raising questions in the end about what is the city providing so people are leaning towards the crowded hard life in the city over the simplicity and the nature in the village.