SYNOPSIS:

”Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to go home. Not my parents house in whatever country they happened to be living in, at that time. But my ancestral home, the land of my dreams: burnt earth under olive trees and rocky hillsides shadowed by secular cedars, their roots reaching deep into the core of the earth....my earth...my roots.” Mark Abouzeid, Filmmaker Ask anyone you meet, what they know about Lebanon and you will invariably receive one or both of the following replies: “Oh, yeah, Beirut! It was once the Riviera of the Middle East. Great place to party!” Or “A damn shame what war has done to that country, poor people.” Visiting Beirut is unlikely to provide you much more insight, either. Every office, home and hotel adorns the walls with photos of Beirut and landscapes of Lebanon dating to the 1950s and 60s. Ask a Lebanese about their culture and they will, more often than not, reply, “There is no Lebanese Culture per se...we are a combination of many cultures, religions and histories.” If Lebanon has seen nothing but war and parties for the last 40 years with no culture of its own, then how could it have provided so much to world culture in the sciences, arts, design, fashion, music, world politics, business and entertainment? “Growing Cedars in Air” is a indie documentary video project about personal discovery of what it means to be Lebanese...about the living heritage and unique culture that has allowed Lebanese to flourish wherever they settle. "We teach our children through the stories we tell. Through them, they learn who they are, where they came from and what is expected of them...as an Abouzeid, as a Lebanese and, foremost, as a human being. “Cedars” is a collection of those stories: a past that in the telling is renewed and applied to the present...a Living Heritage.
 International Context for the Film In an era when globalisation threatens cultural identity everywhere, Growing Cedars in Air is the story of one people who have emigration in their veins and, yet, have never lost their own cultural identity. The potential loss of culture and heritage are, currently, at the top of political, social and humanitarian agendas around the world. As our land boundaries fall and people become more ‘global’, we fear the loss of Identity and Belonging. “Growing Cedars in Air” A film by Mark Abouzeid Without culture or history, how is it that children of Lebanese immigrants (which number 4 times the local population) still identify themselves as such, still have been acculturated to be Lebanese? This documentary gathers Lebanese people of all walks, local and abroad, to tell their own stories of Lebanon and their lives across recent history. Like Allende’s “The House of Spirits”, stories are the individual building blocks, organised around core themes and, ultimately, building into one collective history. Cedars is one man’s discovery of his own roots told in the captivating, yet intimate, style of fireside storytellers. It is a personal story told by numerous protagonists, yet, with a universal theme…and may well be one of the few profound explorations of a culture on the brink of extinction. The Director as Storyteller “Abouzeid is a consummate storyteller, the kind of stories that can only be told from one who has lived many adventures. Sit with him over a coffee at his favourite Piazza in Florence and you will soon be enthralled as he shares HIS world with characteristic enthusiasm and passion.” National Geographic, London 2012