Heritages

Director Philippe Aractangy leaves his homeland to settle in another place for the third time in his life. As he and his family evacuate to France aboard a warship, he realizes that his ancestors have also been on the move fleeing wars or massacres for five generations. All of them were once refugees. This is how the idea of ​​his new film was born. Passionate about telling his own children about the past, Philip reconstructs a journey through history to understand and pass on its lessons. The routes of his ancestors are connected with the history of the Middle East: the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the French colony, the creation of Israel, the Lebanese civil war. His research addresses universal human questions: Can peace be found in exile? Must we throw off the shackles of our heritage to be free? During the seven chapters of the "autobiographical novel", Philip organically interweaves archival images and family photos, videos. We are slowly immersed in this family romance, as Philip explores the distant and familiar Lebanon, connecting the story with a personal diary