PHILIPPE ARACTINGI
DIRECTOR
PRODUCER
WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHER
ACTOR
I love storytelling ! Connecting with people, lending an ear to their stories, and bringing their emotions to life is my jam. This passion has been my trusty compass, guiding me through my career and all its challenges.
I have directed and, in most cases, produced over 70 documentaries and four feature films, sometimes through my own venture, Fantascope Production. These films have been selected in prestigious festivals, been distributed internationally and can be streamed on Netflix.
As one of the founding members of the "Fondation Liban Cinéma" and the Vice President of the Screen Institute Beirut (SIB), my contributions have been recognized with the title of "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" by the Government of France in 2018.
My extensive experience has allowed me to provide valuable consulting services to various companies, assisting them in shaping their strategic direction.
At 16, I began capturing photos of the Lebanese war for global magazines and produced my first documentary by the age of 21.
After 12 years in France, where I directed over fifty documentaries for international TV channels, I returned to Lebanon. There, I produced and directed "Bosta," the first post-war Lebanese musical. This film not only enjoyed a huge commercial success but also helped reconcile Lebanese cinema, marking a new era for the industry.
In 2006, amidst the outbreak of war in Lebanon, I filmed my second movie, "Under the Bombs", which was selected in over 40 festivals, including Venice and Sundance, and garnered a total of 23 awards.
"Bosta" and "Under the Bombs" represented Lebanon at the Oscars.
In 2014, I ventured into autobiography with "Heritages", a documentary that is now taught as a case study in international universities.
In 2018, I released ”Ismaii", or “Listen", which delves into the beauty and challenges of a modern-days Lebanese love story, and was chosen to represent Lebanon at the Golden Globes.
After my 90’ documentary “On the Path of Jesus in Lebanon" and a short film, “Thawra Soul”, I made my debut in theater in 2023. "Sar Waet El Haki" (Let's Talk, It's About Time), a play I wrote and acted in, directed by Lina Abyad, creatively combines films, audio narratives, music and dance, to delve into language and identity.
In 2024, I finished making an archeological documentary for ARTE – "Liban, Les secrets du royaume de Byblos" –, and am working with the Ministry of Culture in Saudi Arabia (Museum department).
In addition to my films, I’ve produced numerous corporate documentaries, especially focused on culture and tourism – among them, AUB Archeological Museum and Ksara Wine Museum.
I am always happy to connect and discuss new business opportunities, so don't hesitate to reach out !
FEATURE FILMS
– Bosta, 2005-6, 110', Fiction
– Under The Bombs, 2008, 98', Fiction
– Heritages, 2014, 96', Documentary
– Listen (Ismai), 2018, 109', Fiction
SOME OF MY
AWARD-WINNING
DOCUMENTARIES
– Liban, Les secrets du royaume de Byblos, 2024, for ARTE (in progress)
– Thawra Soul (Essai), 2021, 11'
– On the Footsteps of Christ, 2019, 77'
– Heritages, 2014, 96'
– Une terre pour un homme, 2012, 42'
– Oman , entre hier et demain, 2000, 52'
– The White Oryx, for Discovery Channel, 1997, 26', Saudi Arabia
– Le Rêve de l’Enfant Acrobate, 1995, 52’, Morroco
– Sri Lanka, de pierres et de prières, Film about archeology, 1995, 52'
– Mr Girafes, for Discovery Channel, 1995, 26', South Africa
– Vol Libre, 1993, 18’
– Through Mother's eyes, 1992, 52'
– Beyrouth de Pierre et de Mémoire, 1992, 18’
THEATER PLAY
LET'S TALK, IT'S ABOUT TIME
(SAR WAET EL HAKI)
Written and performed by :
Philippe Aractingi
Directed by :
Lina Abyad
2023
One day, in Lebanon, a financial crisis, a health crisis, then an explosion in the port of Beirut that destroys everything. Time stands still. It is the silence of reflection.
Halfway through his career, film director Philippe Aractingi loses himself in thought for a moment, meditating on the path that has led him to make so many films, he who, in his youth, had difficulties to speak. Perhaps as a child, he was lost between two languages – his mother's, who spoke to him in French, and his nanny’s, who spoke to him in Arabic, the language of the country. Then, one day, this nanny disappeared, and suddenly the child fell silent.
As an adult, Philippe sought to express himself in other languages than the speech : music, photography, writing and cinema.
Directed by the acclaimed Lina Abyad, "Sar Waet El Haki" ("Let's talk, it's about time") is a groundbreaking play that combines films projected on dislocated screens, sound narratives, music, and sometimes even dance. It's the story of a quest, that of a wartime filmmaker trying to understand, through all the languages he has adopted, the reasons for his silence as a child.
A quest to finally reconcile himself with the speech, the language of theater.
PHOTOGRAPHY
FROM "OBSESSIONS" EXHIBITION
2018, BEIRUT
FROM "HUNNA" COLLECTIVE EXHIBITION
2022, BEIRUT
FROM "NUIT SUR BEYROUTH" EXHIBITION
2011, BEIRUT
WRITINGS
– Métier de femmes, métier de mères (book), Éditions Dergham, 2014
Co-written with Lela Chikhani-Nacouz, an essay that tells the strength and suffering of Lebanese others
put in pictures in 1992 Through Mother’s Eyes
– Nabil le petit étranger (movie screenplay)
Prize Maroun Baghdadi of the Best Script at the International Beirut Festival, 1998 ;
Lauréat de la Bourse Beaumarchais, 1995 ;
Scriptwriting contribution by "la commission de l’avance sur recette du CNC", 1996.
– Forgiveness (movie screenplay, in progress)
– London Halal (movie screenplay, in progress)
– Casserola (movie screenplay co-written with Maya Nassar, in progress), 2022
– The Rock of Tanios (movie screenplay, in progress), 2022
– The Tale of Reem (movie treatment, in progress), 2021
– Captagon (series screenplay, in progress)
FANTASCOPE
PRODUCTION
In addition to my work as a film director, I am the founder of Fantascope Production (1989). In between fiction and documentary films, Fantascope produced corporate films in France, Lebanon and in the Gulf region. Among its films are a promotional video for The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A. CARE) in 2011, and the safety video for Middle East Airlines in 2016, which main focus was to promote tourism and showcasing Lebanon’s touristic sites.
Fantascope also specialized in the production of films for museums, such as the one made for the museum of the Central Bank of Lebanon in 2014 – which highlighted the history of paper money and coins from past eras –, the Beirut’s Archeological Museum of the American University in 2017, and the Ksara museum of wine in the Bekaa valley in 2020.
SOME OF MY
CORPORATE
FILMS
– Museum of the American University of Beirut
– Museum of Ksara Wine
– Museum of Banque du Liban – BDL
– Baalbeck Film Festival
– Lebanon a destination for films - Ministry of Tourism + Lebanese Embassy in Paris
– MEA – Safety video
– Millennium Development (Lebanon and Dubai)
– K.A. Care – Saudi Arabia
– CHUD – Cultural Development and reconstruction – Lebanon
