The film "Kunna Nuhib Ba’dana Aktar" (We Used to Love Each Other More) was supposed to be one of the main highlights of the First World Festival for Documentary Films, taking place in Beirut, which most Lebanese were looking forward to watching last week but ended up not seeing. Director of the festival Mohammad Hashem had received a phone call from Fairouz’s attorney a day before the scheduled screeing, which was to be the first international screening of the film, demanding that the movie be stopped from screening or they will file charges against the festival, and the next day the attorney showed up with two representatives from the court and handed the director official papers that state the banning of the movie from broadcasting.
The Dutch director of the film Jack Janson was very disappointed because he wanted to know what Lebanese fans think about their superstar through his film. Lebanese sources said that Fairouz and her daughter director Rima Rahbani objected on having the song "Suboh Wa Massah" (Day and Night), despite the fact that they had previously gave the director their approval of its inclusion, in addition to their objection on the use of photographs in the film without buying the right to do so.
The director of the festival expressed his anger towards the entire incident, facing complications from Lebanese, saying that he had put great efforts in making the festival of international standards. He added that the producer of the movie assured that he paid all the intellectual property fees and he also paid Fairouz's photographer Varogian for using his photos. Hashem added assured that he has all the needed documents to prove that he did not violate any law or regulation regarding the intellectual property rights.
According to the London based daily, Al Hayat, Hashem noted that the movie is very good and it shows Fairouz Singing her new song (Sobeh Wa Masa) at the Beit El Din Festival and several interviews were made with many of Fairouz fans including politicians and other officials all around Lebanon.
Fairouz's daughter Rima explained that the director told Fairouz that he will include parts of her song in his movie and not the entire song. Rima added that she had requested to see the movie before it airs but the director of the festival did not contact her. Fairouz's attorney sent seven warnings to the director, but he did not respond causing Fairouz to take legal actions during the festival. The producer expressed his astonishment about the director’s actions and said that he did not know that such circumstances took place.
On a different note, Fairouz kicked off her US tour around the United States of America on October 11, 2003, that so far has witnessed tremendous success. Thousands flocked to ticket centers to be part of what has been described by many as a once in a lifetime opportunity. The amount of people that have so far attended Fairouz’s concerts expressed that watching the legendary singer was more like a dream that they wished to keep reliving.
It was revealed that the tickets for the remaining concerts to be held by Fairouz are already sold out and those wishing to attend have to search carefully in black markets. Fairouz had received the invitation from producer Yousif Harb to go on the tour around the US, marking her first in the past 20 years. It has been revealed that an orchestra of 40 musicians has accompanied Fairouz.
The tour is sponsored by the Canadian company Planet of Performers and has achieved enormous success so far due to the fact that the singer enjoys lots of popularity among the Arabs living around the US and people of other nationalities. –Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
