Rania Stephan

In Fields of Words: Conversations with Samar Yazbek, dir. Rania Stephan, Lebanon 2022, 70 min., Arabic and French with English subtitles, Trailer courtesy of DocLisboa

Rania Stephan is a filmmaker and artist from Beirut, Lebanon. After leaving Lebanon to escape the Civil War, Stephan studied film at Latrobe University Melbourne, Australia, and subsequently, Paris VIII University, France, where she still lives today. Using a combination of archival materials, contemporary footage and imagery, Stephan weaves filmic narratives that interrogate and disrupt the meaning of presence and absence. She has directed a number of essayistic and artistic contributions, and her first feature-length film, The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni, both won and was nominated for several international prizes. She has participated in the making of many other works, including Panoptic, a nuanced work interrogating Beirut’s underground scene, directed by Rana Eid. Links and additional resources below.

Selected Films

In Fields of Words: Conversations with Rania Stephan (2021)Screening 25 March, ICA

Threshold (2018)

Riot: 3 Movements (2015)

Memories for a Private Eye (A Trilogy, #1 released 2015)Screening 25 March, ICA

The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni (2011)

Lebanon/War (2006)Screening 25 March ICA

Train-Trains (Where’s the Track?) (1999)

Media Coverage

In Conversation with Claire Atherton and Kathleen Bühler