Critically Acclaimed by International Media
'Remarkable and brilliant documentary' – The Australian
The unexpected international success of Lebanon...Imprisoned Splendour came largely as a result of the personal storyline of the film. Unlike typical documentaries with their authoritative, detached, report-style structure, what filmmaker, Daizy Gedeon, unwittingly achieved by telling this story through her personal witness, was to immediately, emotionally connect with the audience on a human level.
It's purpose became much more than telling a parochial, Lebanon-centric story, but interestingly, more a tale about "two cities" or, more factually, two countries and two identities and the struggle associated with those dichotomies.
* Two Countries _ the land of ones birth or heritage and ethnic origins as contrasted with the country where someone has migrated to, live, reside.
* Two Identities _ the culture, norms, traditions, rituals, language, behaviours of the country where a person or their parent's were originally from versus those that surround them and are reinforced on a daily basis in a person's adopted homeland.
These themes traverse nations, people, cultures, races and religions. They unify humanity in exposing the struggles and challenges that most people are experiencing as a result of the globalisation of our world and the fact that the last 100 years has seen the largest mass migration in human history.
The over-arching Middle East crisis subplot and associated civil war, assassinations, kidnappings, Syrian occupation, Israeli invasion and Palestinian refugee catastrophe narratives were addressed in a more factual manner. Journalists across the world, from Australia to the USA and Lebanon, picked up on these global concepts and reviewed the film favourably.
Daizy was interviewed on television, radio, featured in magazines and newspapers. Some of the most significant reports, articles and reviews included features in The Australian newspaper and the Sydney Morning Herald, reviews in the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe and the Washington Report on the Middle East. See selection below.
Media Coverage Timeline
The Australian
Title: Bad move by Israel
Author: Greg Sheridan
Precis: “We should lament the probable destruction of the brightest star on the Middle East Horizon.” Greg Sheridan, The Australian’s Foreign Editor, explores a Lebanon now ten years on from the 1997 release of the magnificent and multi award winning documentary, Lebanon, Imprisoned Splendour. Produced by journalist and film-maker, Daizy Gedeon, the genius of the film lay in the way it absorbed and accepted Lebanon’s suffering in civil war in particular, and yet transcended this by portraying the other rich and diverse Lebanon. Now ten years on, it is a country still imprisoned by foreign nations that used Lebanon as a place to wage their proxy wars.
Los Angeles Times
Title: Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: Narrator and special guest, Omar Sharif hosts this beautiful and moving documentary in which Lebanese-born Australian journalist, Daizy Gedeon, attempts to come to terms with her heritage as she returns to her native Lebanon to celebrate its ancient culture and capacity for endurance despite its brutal exploitation by foreign powers.
LA Weekly
Title: Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: Using broad but effective strokes, Australian journalist and filmmaker, Daizy Gedeon, attempts to dispel the negative images that surround her birth country. “Your Lebanon is an international problem yet to be solved/Mine is calm enchanted valleys, murmurs with church bells and whispering brooks.” The expansive words of Lebanese poet, Kahil Gibran, as read by Omar Sharif, lie at the heart of, Gedeon’s travelogue as she attempts to dispel the negative images that surround her birth country, while coming to terms with her own divided identity.
OC Weekly
Title: Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: “Your Lebanon is an international problem yet to be solved/Mine is calm enchanted valleys, murmurs with church bells and whispering brooks.” The expansive words of Lebanese poet, Kahil Gibran, as read by Omar Sharif, lie at the heart of Australian journalist and filmmaker, Daizy Gedeon’s travelogue as she attempts to dispel the negative images that surround her birth country, while coming to terms with her own divided identity.
Los Angeles Times
Title: A Tribute to the People of Lebanon
Author: Kevin Thomas
Precis: Omar Sharif’s elegant presence as he narrates passages quoted from Khalil Gibran in Daizy Gedeon’s beautiful and moving ‘Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour’ underscores his belief that “you never stop being Lebanese”. Australian journalist and film-maker, Gedeon, explains that she felt the need to come to terms with the country she left with her family in 1970 at the age of 5. She also wanted to fill “the gap between anger and poverty” in the image that the war-torn nation has had in the media since 1975.
The Jewish Journal, Los Angeles
Date: 19 September 1997
Title: 1998 Academy Award Entrant
Precis: Official notice for limited season screening of Academy Award entrant Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour at The Music Hall Theatre, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Title: “Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour” Holds Official U.S. Premiere
Author: John Vandenberg
Precis: Academy Award documentary contender ‘Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour’s official U.S premiere was held on Capital Hill to an overflow crowd of well-wishers, including Rep. Nick Rahall, the grandson of Lebanese immigrants. Narrated by Omar Sharif, “Film industry officials in Los Angeles saw the film and encouraged us to go for it” said Daizy Gedeon, writer, director and producer of the film.
The Daily Telegraph
Title: Picture slog clicks for Daizy
Author: Bryce Corbett
Precis: She has chased Omar Sharif around France, mortgaged and sold her house, and then raised more than $400,000 – all to make her first film, Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour. Now an international multi-award winning documentary, Gedeon’s determination has finally paid off and reveals her personal examination of the migration experience, woven in with the complex history of Lebanon.
The Daily Telegraph
Title: Falafel meets meat pie
Author: Bryce Corbett
Precis: Falafel meets meat pie is the dominant theme in the Australian documentary setting its sights on the Academy Awards. Film-maker Daizy Gedeon takes the part of the pie in her award-winning documentary Lebanon…Imprisoned Splendour, the story of her return to Lebanon after a childhood in Australia.
Museum of Sydney
Title: Our eternal search for a homeland
Author: Diana Giese
Precis: Daizy Gedeon’s prize-winning film, Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour, celebrates the courage of a people determined to restore their country to its former glory as well as her personal search for ‘a homeland, a culture, a people to call our own’.
Arab News “Anbaa Al Arab” Volume 8
Title: The Lebanese Firt lady helps restore faith in the Lebanese Community.
Author:
Precis: The Lebanese First Lady was in attendance at the Inauguration Ceremony of the Centre for Children with Diabetes and Thelasemia where guests viewed a documentary entitled Lebanon…. Imprisoned Splendour and presented by Australian Producer and Journalist, Daizy Gedeon.
Al Hayat
Title: Winner of the silver screen award for ‘Best Documentary’ in New York Mahrajan.
Author: Jad Elhajj
Precis: Background and history behind the making of ‘Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour’ by Daizy Gedeon
The Beirut Film Festival
Title: Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: In the eyes of many Westerners, Lebanon is a land of violence, terrorism and war. Lebanese are seen as barbaric, backward, camel jockeys. Narrated by actor Omar Al-Sharif with verse by Khalil Gibran, this film sets out to address these entrenched negative stereotypes by using only FACTS and armed with the TRUTH to show and highlight Lebanon and the Lebanese as they really are.
The Courier Mail
Title: Daizy’s big break
Author: Noel Mengel
Precis: She chased Omar Sharif around France, then sold her house to raise money – all to make her first film Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour. Australian filmmaker Daizy Gedeon, reveals a Lebanon that is ‘a cosmopolitan country, not simply a war zone’.
An Nahar – Sydney
Title: Daizy Gedeon continues to promote her film: Lebanon: Imprisoned Splendour, to hundreds of people in attendance at the Bellevue.
Author: Anwar Harb
Precis: Australian Journalist and Film Producer hosted an evening at The Bellevue to present her documentary, Lebanon…. Imprisoned Splendour.
The Middle East Herald
Title: Daizy Gedeon and her film ‘Lebanon: Imprisoned Splendour’
Author:
Precis: Description about the importance of the film, and the companies who sponsored it, making it a film worth watching. As well as the Commentary that Daizy had to the contribution of the film to the unveiling of the real beauty of Lebanon.
The Australian
Title: Lebanon’s Soul
Author: Greg Sheridan
Precis: A documentary on a resilient nation shows it reclaiming its place in the world after decades of war. Award winning Australian journalist and filmmaker, Daizy Gedeon’s Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour delivers an exceptionally rich film. It seems to have been impelled primarily by a desire to register and recreate a sense of a particular human experience, in this case the experience of Lebanon, beyond that of the headlines and distortions of contemporary war coverage.
An Nahar
Title: Thank you, Daizy Gedeon!
Author: Naim Khoury
Precis: A poem/prose in Arabic dedicated to Daizy Gedeon.
The Middle East Herald
Title: The film ‘Lebanon: Imprisoned Splendour’ produced by Daizy Gedeon, and Omar Sharif Contributes to it.
Author: N/A (potentially Pierre Raffoul)
Precis: Promotional excerpt on where to see or buy ‘Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour’.
The Australian Magazine
Title: Coming Home
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: This is my story. And, in fact, it is every immigrant’s story. What distinguishes me from other immigrants is my name and geographical origins. Otherwise, our dilemma about where we belong is the same: our eternal search for a homeland, a culture, a people to call our own is the same; our confused search for an identity is the same. …. I dared to be different. I decided to make a television documentary focusing on my personal experiences with identity and ethnicity. Reclaiming my heritage has enabled me to embrace my past, present and future. Now I know that when you work from a premise of passion and honesty, with or without trophies, you will always succeed.
The Boston Globe
Title: Shorts Program V: Penetrating ‘Lebanon’; cheap ‘Short Change’
Author: Betsy Sherman
Precis: Featuring Daizy Gedeon’s fine personal documentary “Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour”, the Lebanese-Australian director shows us how the homeland she re-discovered as an adult is much different from the violent Lebanon we know of through the media. The film is a marbleized mixture of history lesson, travelogue, talking-heads testimonial and personal journal.
The 1996 Boston Film Festival Program Guide
Title: Lebanon…..Imprisoned Splendour
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: This award-winning emotive documentary expresses the personal story of a young woman who, through examining her country of origin, journey’s in search of her identity. It is a modern and thought provoking story that is shared by millions of migrants around the world today who, either through choice or necessity, were forced to migrate from the land of their birth to a new country which has become their home.
The Sunday Telegraph
Title: Daizy puts her heritage in focus
Author: Piers Akerman
Precis: Daizy Gedeon’s award-winning film, Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour, was conceived after Gedeon made her first return to her country of origin since aged 5 and was struck by a culture so different from the images of a war-torn nation divided by religious and racial strife – she returned determined to present her view of the Lebanese people.
El – Telegraph
Title: Letters to the Editor
Author: (Potentially) Nazen Irani, Walid Hosni, Issan Nalki
Precis: Letters from Artist Nazen Irani, Journalist Walid Hosni, Poet Issan Nalki. These Authors praise the Film and abound in happiness at the successes of it, beaming with pride at the contribution of Omar Sharif.
An Nahar – Sydney
Title: She told her story of how she convinced Omar Sharif to contribute to the Film. Daizy Says: ‘The Beauty of Lebanon is far more powerful than the violence’ The film wins first prize and clarifies the right picture of Lebanon
Author: Anwar Harb
Precis: Interview with Australian Producer and Journalist, Daizy Gedeon, on how she sold her house to fund her dream to produce a movie on Lebanon titled ‘Lebanon…. Imprisoned Splendour’.
An – Nahar
Title: Omar Sharif pays leading role in a Film. Daizy’s film about Lebanon wins silver from among 1500 films.
Author: Antoine Sabella and Hani El-Turk (they both published the page)
Precis: Synopsis on Daizy Gedeon’s background and history of how the film came about.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Title: Desperately seeking Omar
Author: Brook Turner
Precis: Sheer grit and determination have resulted in award-winning documentary Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour by novice film-maker Daizy Gedeon. Persuading Omar Sharif to appear in the film was only part of the battle….. the ‘story behind the story’ could be a film all on its own.
Inner Western Weekly
Title: Filmmaker looks at the past and finds herself
Author: Lynne Kinsey
Precis: In attempting to reveal the real Lebanon, award-winning filmmaker, Daizy Gedeon, discovered a forgotten part of herself. Narrated by actor Omar Sharif and three years in the making, Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour focuses on the hope and resilience of the Lebanese people despite the war which has torn their country.
The Weekend Australian
Title: Struggle for Liberty dependent on Peace
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: On November 22, 1943, the Lebanese fought for and won independence from France. Almost 50 years to the day, it could be argued that the Lebanese are struggling, once again, for liberty. This time the alleged antagonist is a regional power – Syria.
The Weekend Australian
Title: Struggle for Liberty dependent on Peace
Author: Daizy Gedeon and Maha Obeid
Precis: Horizon 2000 is the $US13 billion ($20 billion), 10-year masterplan which is expected to bring about Lebanon’s renaissance. The plan is designed to reconstruct the fragmented war-weary country, revitalise the economy, and redevelop the capital into the region’s financial, banking and cultural headquarters.
The Weekend Australian
Title: Rebirth Of A Nation
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: As Lebanon marks its 50th Anniversary of Independence after nearly two decades of war and unrest, Daizy Gedeon explores the imminent economic and political challenges ahead.
The Arab World
Title: Letter to my people
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: Daizy Gedeon talks of why she wanted to set the record straight through her report in The Australian newspaper on ‘her Lebanon’ and the background behind the production of her documentary, ‘Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour’.
The Arab World
Title: Letter to my people
Author: This Documentary shows the true face of Lebanon and making it was a national obligation.
Precis: Background and history behind the making of ‘Lebanon… Imprisoned Splendour’ by Daizy Gedeon as well as the necessity of the film in modern times, and with the support of Omar Sharif, it is a testament to Lebanon as a country to be exposed for more than what the mainstream media shows.
Al – Bairak
Title: A welcoming party for friends and family of MP Abed El Rahman in Al Samar Restaurant
Author: Joseph Khoury (potentially, he is the Editor in Chief)
Precis: Event to honour MP Abed El-Rahman with guest speaker, Daizy Gedeon
The Weekend Australian
Title: Journey Home
Author: Daizy Gedeon
Precis: Daizy Gedeon left Lebanon for Australia in 1970 when she was 5 years old. Now a staff reporter on The Australian, she recently returned to her former homeland and was surprised to discover a country not quite as portrayed on the television news.