
Person
Jocelyne Saab
Directing · 1948–2019 · Beirut, Lebanon
Biography
Jocelyne Saab was a filmmaker and a photographer. She was born in 1948 and grew up in Beirut. In 1973, she became a war reporter in the Middle-East, covering the war of October for Magazine 52, the third television channel in France. In 1975 she directed her first feature film, a documentary released in Parisian cinemas: Lebanon in Turmoil, distributed by Pascale Dauman. She will then cover the Lebanese war for fifteen years, during which she directs almost thirty films, including Beirut, never again, broadcasted on France 2 in 1976, Letter from Beirut and Beirut, my city, broadcasted on France 3 between 1978 and 1982. In 1977 both Egypt, City of the Dead and The Sahara is not up for sale and were shot and released in Parisian cinemas. In 1981, she shots Iran, Utopia in the making on the days following the Iranian revolution, which received several international prizes. In 1998, she went to Vietnam and directed a documentary called The Lady of Saigon, which is awarded best French documentary by the French senate. It’s broadcasted on France 2, and in many international festivals.
Known for

Once Upon a Time in Beirut
Director

Arab Camera
Self

The Ship of Exile
Writer

A Letter from Beirut
Self

The Razor's Edge
Director

What's Going On?
Producer

La Tueuse
Director

Making of Nahla
Self

Personal Drawing of a French Mercenary
Director

Imaginary Postcards
Director
Filmography
- 2026Revolutionaries Never DieDirector of Photography
- 2018My Name is Mei ShigenobuDirector
- 2016Imaginary PostcardsDirector
- 2016One Dollar a DayDirector
- 2013Gender CafeDirector
- 2009What's Going On?Producer
- 2006DuniaDirector
- 1996The Lady of SaigonDirector
- 1995Once Upon a Time in BeirutDirector
- 1991Fertilization in VideoDirector
- 1989Les Almées, danseuses orientalesDirector
- 1988La TueuseDirector
- 1987Arab CameraSelf
- 1986The Architect of LouxorDirector
- 1986As Kineastas
- 1986The Ghosts of AlexandriaDirector
- 1986L’Amour d’AllahDirector
- 1986La Croix des PharaonsDirector
- 1985The Razor's EdgeDirector
- 1983Beirut, My CitySelf
- 1982The Ship of ExileWriter
- 1982Lebanese, Hostages of Their CitySelf - Narrator (voice)
- 1980Iran, Utopia on the MoveDirector
- 1979Making of NahlaSelf
- 1978A Letter from BeirutSelf
- 1978Egypt, City of the DeadDirector
- 1977Sahara Is Not for SaleDirector
- 1976Beirut, Never AgainNarrator (English Voice-Over) (uncredited)
- 1976South Lebanon: The Story of a Village Under SiegeDirector
- 1976Children of WarProducer
- 1976For a Few LivesDirector
- 1975Lebanon in a WhirlwindSelf (uncredited)
- 1975Rejection FrontDirector
- 1975Personal Drawing of a French MercenaryDirector
- 1974Palestinian WomenScreenplay
- 1974Les Palestiniens continuentDirector
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