PHILIPPE ARACTINGI / HERITAGES

Philippe Aractingi was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1964. He came to age during the civil war and worked as a war photographer. As the war intensified, he moved to France and got a job in production, directing over forty shorts and feature documentaries on topics as varied as  archeology in Sri Lanka, the daily lives of acrobat children in Morocco, and giraffes in South Africa.

In 1992, he returned to Lebanon, producing two documentaries Through Mothers’ Eyes and Beirut of Stones and Memories.

His first feature, Bosta (2005), was a musical road movie about post-war Lebanon.

In the aftermath of the 2006 Israeli incursion into Lebanon, Aractingi, took his camera with two professional actors and headed to South Lebanon. Over two days, his actors interacted with real civilians, soldiers, and rescue teams to produce Under the Bombs, a fictional story in a real-life setting. The documentary was selected for the Venice Film Festival, Sundance, and the Dubai International Film Festival and won 23 prizes.