Genre
Synopsis
TRAJECTORY OF A LINE explores the life and legacy of Lebanese artist Saloua Raouda Choucair (1916–2017), a pioneer of abstract art in the Arab world. As her granddaughter, I aim to honor her vision and explore the interwoven narratives of her descendants.
Saloua’s work is now held in major museums, but her true dream was to see her art in public life—enlarged, interactive, and accessible. For decades, my mother, Hala, who is also an artist, has worked to realize that dream. Most recently, Hala opened a one-of-a-kind museum in Lebanon dedicated to Saloua’s work—a project I’ll one day inherit.
Saloua’s trajectory was untraditional. Her recognition was delayed by the Lebanese Civil War and a government that often overlooked her. This tension comes into focus through the mystery of her first public commission: a nine-foot sculpture that vanished in 1983. During a broadcasted panel event celebrating Saloua’s 100th, a woman in the audience stood up, trembling, and claimed to know who stole it. New leads—including the name of a politician’s wife—bring urgency to this ongoing search. My film will pick up this active storyline in an effort to track down the sculpture while investigating how its disappearance speaks to larger attitudes in the country.
This film uncovers how one woman’s art, shaped by Lebanon’s complex history, continues to resonate across generations—and how the search to understand her legacy deepens my relationship with my mother, and our family’s evolving bond with Lebanon.
Director Identity
Bio
Noor Gharzeddine is a Lebanese American filmmaker living between New York, Los Angeles and Beirut. Her award-winning debut feature, ARE YOU GLAD I'M HERE, traveled to over 30 film festivals worldwide. After a successful theatrical release the film is now available on Amazon Prime and other streaming platforms.
Noor is currently writing a magical realism coming of age screenplay and is in development on two features - one fiction and one documentary. She gravitates towards female driven stories that merge diverse genres and cultural perspectives. Noor's commercial work is represented by Coed Studios, where she's been partnering with small businesses to tell brand stories that weave in each entrepreneur's world-view, aesthetic, and personality.
When she’s not writing, directing or producing, Noor enjoys fostering kittens, hosting parties and weightlifting.
Credits
Documentary Producer - Claire Demere, VP of Pretty Matches Productions