A self-described ’Private Ear,’ Turner Prize winner Lawrence Abu Hamdan gathers, investigates, and analyzes audio and video recordings of Israeli fighter jets illegally infringing on the otherwise peaceful skies above Lebanon. Since Israel’s invasion in 2006, the repeated aerial hum of choppers and planes has escalated steadily toward terrorizing noise pollution. These incursions insinuate an intentionally weaponized proximate border, but to what end? Abu Hamdan’s meticulous video-essay pieces together evidence of the normalization of this eroding sensorial boundary, exposing what appear to be tactics verging on auditory torture. Combining monologue with archival record, video recordings, eye witness testimonies and shrewd observation, The Diary of a Sky documents contemporary life in Lebanon, in which the people on the ground must navigate the fickleness of two domineering and opposing forces: Hezbollah and Israel.
Community Partner
Mazen El-Sayed
Lebanon
2024
In Arabic with English subtitles
Self harm
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Producer
Lawrence Abu Hamdan
Cinematography
Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Amir Afshar, Ghalya Albani, LarissaAoun, Jad Atoui, Zeinab Awada
Editor
Mohamad A. Gawad
Lawrence Abu Hamdan
Lawrence Abu Hamdan is an independent investigator or Private Ear. His investigations focus on sound and linguistics and have been used as evidence at the UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and as advocacy for organizations such as Amnesty International and Defense for Children International together with fellow researchers from Forensic Architecture. Abu Hamdan received his PhD in 2017 from Goldsmiths College University of London and in 2021 completed a professorship at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz where he developed his research airpressure.info. Past fellowships have been held at the University of Chicago and the New School, New York.
Photo by Diana Pfanmatter
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Rushmore
Precocious Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is befriended by depressed industrialist Harold Blume (Bill Murray) until they both fall in love with first grade teacher Miss Cross (Olivia Williams). Anderson's second feature is an old favourite.
The Big Lebowski
The Coens' whacky, warped slacker generation riff on Raymond Chandler, a shaggy dog story which delights in going sideways at every turn. Jeff Bridges is the Dude, and what he really wants is to get his rug back...
The Thin Red Line
After a 20-year hiatus, Terrence Malick re-emerged with this earching adaptation of James Jones's autobiographical novel about the WWII battle of Guadalcanal. The Thin Red Line is a lyrical, meditative war movie, a philosophical discourse on war itself.
Out of Sight
Adapted from Elmore Leonard's novel about the mutual attraction between an escaped bank robber and the FBI agent on his tail, Out of Sight is sexy and romantic, cosmopolitan, and full of Soderbergh's sleight of hand, shuffling time like a card sharp.
Memory of Princess Mumbi
In 2093, a filmmaker arrives in the African village of Umata, where he meets Princess Mumbi, a woman torn between love, legacy, and the future of storytelling. It's a fabulous genre-blending fable about memory, invention and cinematic resistance.