Synopsis
In 1962, Oscar Niemeyer was invited to conceive an international fairground in the city of Tripoli, Lebanon, which was never completed. To Remain in the No Longer looks at how architecture operates in this failed state. By examining the precarity of the project site that remains to this day, the film reflects on the country’s current socio-economic crisis.
A word from Tënk
Light on Concrete
Radio Echoes
A plant growing through the cracks
كيف لا نغرق في السراب
Under the gaze of Joyce Joumaa, optical tracking shots and lateral panoramas reveal the unfinished works of architect Oscar Niemeyer, originally intended for an international fair in the city of Tripoli. Through the vanishing points of the structures and the geometric tensions that echo between the architect's work and that of the filmmaker, Joumaa subtly traces the socio-political issues underlying these structures. Some recall childhood memories there. Others see it as a metaphor for the 2019 economic collapse or the city’s recent structural failures. Through a series of tableaux, the emptiness no longer appears inert from Joumaa’s perspective, but gradually transforms into movement — a movement punctuated by a sound design that blends archival radio broadcasts with futuristic music, evoking a new dawn carried by the voices of those living on the margins.
Matthew Wolkow
Filmmaker and curious by profession
