Hey xx

I have shared this with KR, and now here...

so, this is just a short movie (We Must Return) I have filmed in summer....

it doesn't have English subtitles, but one can understand that it's about how Lebanese people die because of neglect... enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5pDApIGg6o

I only had time to watch around 5 mins of this...I'll try to catch some more of it later. Couple of questions...at the start of the video it looks like the children are carrying beads..I'm sure they are not rosary beads...just similar but the all appear to be blessing themselves with the sign of the cross...can you explain that please....I always thought this was a catholic thing as I've never seen any other religion doing it...I've seen muslims in prayer rooms across the world but...I thought they were kissing the beads and holding them to their foreheads so...perhaps they are being portrayed as christians?

Secondly, after the dead bodies are shown it goes to something that looks like twigs in the air....is this symbolic to death?

"the all appear to be blessing themselves with the sign of the cross...can you explain that please."

^ True. Lebanese are Moslims and Christians. I portrayed both people in the clip.

"twigs in the air"

^ it means that the people are being buried

So I got to look at some more of this and obviously I was lost in translation. I can only imagine what the children are saying on stage but...I think it's a great idea to have them there...they are our future after all and...I think that's what they were saying here....stop what's going on in this world...we have to live with your consequences....something like that was my interpretation.

As to the twigs....I'm not sure if they were twigs or straw or something else....you say they are symbolic with death...can you tell me why?

This looks like a well planned production ..very powerful

Hellon, I couldn't find adult actors, so I chose my neighborhood children because they aren't shy infront of the camera. And somehow, what you interpreted is correct. The theme of this movie is unity. When united, we can return back to "life", mark the quotations.... With respect to the twigs, I needed something to portray soil which we throw upon graves... so I used twigs instead because they were the only things available in the location.

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Thank you, Michael :)

Abed, it's really beautiful and even without subtitles or anything, it was powerful! I'm proud of you, I too have only watched the first five minutes or so but I liked the significance of repeating the sign of the cross while the children were walking and I didn't know about the twigs, so thank you for sharing that :]

I hope I'm not straying off topic here but...still interested in those twigs which you say represent earth being thrown at burials....do the people in Lenanon have a choice as to burial or cremation? The only graveside I ever went to was my mother's and yes, soil was thrown on the coffin after it was lowered to the ground. I have since found out that...in America (and I don't know if cremations are compolsory there yet)....no one goes to the cremation/burial rather they have a memorial service after that and...just from what I've been told there is an option to have your loved one cremeated in a cardboard style coffin.

Thanks, MaryAnne :)

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I don't know, Hellon, what you mean by cremation?

when we bury people, we walk in a parade-like group to the grave where the dead is buried under-soil without a cardboard box (Moslims) or with a cardboard box (Christians)... then we pray there... thats the norm

Cremation means the body is burnt....it's an option at the moment here in Australia but...I think it may become compulsory as we run out of burial grounds for the dead.

EDIT

When you say without cardboard boxes for muslims...do they get layed out in a cast or something else?

Ah, no, we don't have cremation. I thought it was only for Buddhism and Hinduism.

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they are buried in white coffins only... with a measured way of above soil volume, etc.. (I don't know details honestly)

I don't know either LP to be honest...I would just have to go by the saying ...six feet under...but having said that my brother, father and mother are all buried in the same gravesite so...now I'm wondering about this because they were all buried in wooden coffins and....when I looked down to throw the soil on my mother's coffin...I really couldn't see the others...

I watched this Abed, it was well directed for what it is, and I don't really understand everything you were trying to portray,
but on the topic of burials and cremations, it is an option here in the UK, both my cousin and my Grandma were cremated, it's cheaper than a burial, and I am pleased for the choices my family made for I wouldn't like to think of there bodies rotting under the ground...
I don't remember my cousins service that well as I was only 13, but my Grandma's service is fresh in my mind, it was a celebration of her life, the songs we chose were a mixture of Christian and what reminded us of her.
My Aunt and Uncle are devout Christians and visit church regularly, and My Grandma's ashes were scattered under the same tree my Grandfather's were, although he passed before I was born.