FORTE
31 minutes, 2018
Director and Producer : Salim SAAB (France, Libanon)
The documentary “Forte” was made from a desire to portray Arab women differently from the way usually shown in the media or cinema. Women who express themselves artistically, through dance, graffiti, tattooing – but also combat sports. They talk about their passion, their daily lives, the place of women in the society in which they live, always coming back to the key subject: how they see feminism. They are mainly from Lebanon but also from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
Former rapper, journalist, filmmaker and radio presenter, Salim SAAB is a true activist of Hip Hop culture. Also known under the pseudonym Royal S, this French-Lebanese 37 year-old already has a well stocked CV. Animator and journalist on the international and Arab Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya, where he receives artists from all over the Arab world, host of the rap programme Old School / New School on the Parisian radio Aligre FM, author of three rap records published in the mid-2000s and freelance contributor to the written press. In 2017, he directed “Beyrouth Street: Hip Hop au Liban“, a documentary about the history of Hip Hop in the Lebanon. Screened in several countries and festivals, it attracted international media attention, which helped Salim become known as a director. In 2018 he made “Forte“, a documentary on women artists in the Arab world.