About the Film

The assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Valentine’s Day 2005 prompted hundreds of thousands of Lebanese to take to the streets in a powerful show of national unity. Their ‘Cedar Revolution’ drove out Syrian troops after 29 years of occupation, just ahead of the parliamentary elections in May and June. Can Lebanon, a country of 18 different ethnic groups that fought a 15-year civil war, achieve independence from foreign interference and overcome renewed division within?

“Future for Lebanon” takes viewers to the oldest democracy in the Middle East as voters go to the polls in a new era. This film features a democracy advocate who organized the sit-in in Martyr’s Square, a Hezbollah candidate running on anti-Israeli and anti-American sentiment, and a youth organizer for the Future movement inherited by Rafik Hariri’s son Saad. “Future for Lebanon” also observes the new politics of Lebanon grappling with old sectarian tensions as this election plays out. From the beaches of Beirut to the radical rallies of Hezbollah, WIDE ANGLE explores political change in one of the pivotal nations of the Arab region — change from within, not imposed from the outside.