Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
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| Born | 1969 (age 55–56) |
| Awards | 2017 Marcel Duchamp Prize |
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige are a husband-and-wife team of artists and filmmakers from Lebanon. They work together to create movies, documentaries, photographs, and art installations. Their work often explores the history of their home country and tells stories that might have been forgotten.
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Personal Life and Partnership
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige were both born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1969. They grew up during a difficult time known as the Lebanese Civil War. Their families had backgrounds from different places, including Greece, Syria, and Palestine.
They both studied literature in Paris and filmmaking in New York City. They started working together in the early 1990s and have been creative partners ever since.
Much of their art is inspired by real-life events and documents. For example, they have explored the story of Joreige's uncle, who disappeared many years ago. They also made a documentary called ISMYRNA with the poet Etel Adnan, which looked into Hadjithomas's family history.
How They Create Their Art
Hadjithomas and Joreige are known for doing a lot of research for their projects. They like to call themselves "chercheurs," a French word for "researchers" or "people who are looking for something." They often work with historians, archaeologists, and other experts to uncover interesting stories.
Their art projects and films are often connected. An idea from a film might turn into a photo series, or a discovery from an art project might inspire a new movie. They believe in learning from others and have said that meetings and conversations with different people have helped shape their work.
Besides creating art, they also teach at universities in Lebanon and Europe. They helped start a film production company called Abbout Productions and are involved with the Metropolis Art Cinema in Beirut, helping to support other filmmakers.
Their Work in Film
Hadjithomas and Joreige have directed many films, including both documentaries and fictional movies.
Famous Films
- Around the Pink House (1999): Their first feature film.
- A Perfect Day (2005): This film won several awards, including a prize from film critics at the Locarno International Film Festival.
- Je Veux Voir (I Want to See) (2008): This movie starred the famous French actress Catherine Deneuve. It was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
- The Lebanese Rocket Society (2013): A documentary about a forgotten space program in Lebanon during the 1960s. It won an award for Best Documentary.
- Memory Box (2021): This film is based on notebooks and tapes that Hadjithomas made as a teenager in Beirut during the civil war. It was shown at the Berlinale film festival and in over 40 countries.
Their films often mix real stories with fictional ones, making the audience think about what is real and what is imagined. Many museums and film festivals around the world have shown collections of their movies.
Their Work in Art
As artists, Hadjithomas and Joreige create installations, which are artworks that you can walk around and experience.
Exploring What's Hidden
In 2017, they won a major French art award, the Marcel Duchamp Prize. Their winning project was called Unconformities. For this work, they collected core samples—long cylinders of rock and soil—from deep underground in cities that were important to them: Athens, Paris, and Beirut. The project was about looking at the different layers of history buried beneath our feet.
Another project, Under The Cold River Bed (2020), tells the story of the "Nahr el Bared" refugee camp in Lebanon. The camp was destroyed in 2007. When workers began to rebuild it, they found ancient ruins from Roman times. To protect the ruins but still build homes for the refugees, a decision was made to cover the entire site. The artists created a sculpture that shows this thin layer between the past and the future.
Internet Scams as Art
Starting in 1999, the artists began collecting thousands of "junk" emails, also known as spam or digital scams. These are the emails that try to trick people into sending money. They turned these messages into an art project called SCAMS (2014). In one part of the project, they had actors read the scam emails out loud, bringing the strange stories to life.
Their artworks have been shown in major museums all over the world, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the British Museum in London.
Awards and Prizes
- 2017: Won the Marcel Duchamp Prize, a top art award in France.
- 2012: Best Documentary Award for The Lebanese Rocket Society.
- 2008: Best Singular Film award for Je veux voir.
- 2005: Fipresci Prize for A Perfect Day at the Locarno International Film Festival.
- 2000: Best Film Award for Around the Pink House at the Beirut International Film Festival.
Filmography
- 2021: Memory Box
- 2016: ISMYRNA
- 2013: The Lebanese Rocket Society
- 2008: Khiam 2000–2007
- 2008: Je veux voir (I want to see)
- 2006: Open the Door, Please
- 2005: A Perfect Day
- 2003: Ashes
- 2003: The Lost Film
- 2001: Barmeh (Rounds)
- 2000: Khiam
- 1999: Around the Pink House
