The Lebanese Rocket Society

Through archival footage and materials, filmmakers Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige uncover a lost chapter in modern history: the rise and fall of the Lebanese Rocket Society. In the early 1960s, a group of students and scientists at Haigazian University in Beirut tried to launch a rocket into space. Their first failure lead to further attempts, and soon success—with Lebanon’s sudden participation in the “space race” grabbing headlines around the region. Ending when the Arab states waged war with Israel in 1967, the program has been seemingly erased from national memory. Explore this forgotten chapter of history and hoped-for modernity that once captured the minds of many in the Arab world. (95 mins., DCP)

Screened in conjunction with the exhibition Action at a Distance at the Angela Meleca Gallery.