55
T
he Fine Art Programme,
Department of Design and
Multimedia of the University of
Nicosia, hosted a screening of the
documentary
“Image Matters”
by director Rozy Sarkis.
Sponsored by the Lebanese
Embassy in Cyprus and showcased
at the University’s Cine Studio,
the screening was followed by a
discussion on documentary film-
making.
The plot
In the midst of war, a group of women indulge
in a shopping spree; in the midst of crises, they
are busy getting their hair done. While all this is
happening, they always make time for a visit to
the plastic surgeon. Inspired by the bizarreworld
she witnessed around her while growing up in
a wealthy village of war-torn Lebanon, Rozy
Sarkis’ documentary
Image Matters
explores
the country’s culture of cosmetic surgery. With
the spotlight on Marinelle, a popular Lebanese
soap-opera actress,
Image Matters
follows her
insatiable desire to regain the lost beauty of her
youth. As she struggles with the dangers of the
operation and the complications that ensue, the
background features a hub of female family
members, each riddled with their
own anxieties and insecurities
about their appearance. This
family drama plays out against a
broader backdrop of considerable
social upheaval and instability.
Lebanese composer Ziad Rahbani,
Lebanese pop star Haifa Wehbe,
Alexi David’s PATRIOT ACT,
Adonis and Ayden, accompany
the documentary with music.
Image Matters
is a documentary
that took 4 years of research and
production. It was featured in
Sydney at The Lebanese Film Festival, in the
Dubai FilmMart and at Roehampton University.
Rozy Sarkis is a producer/director that
has travelled across the globe with an
anthropological interest in different cultures.
She studied in London and has worked on media
and film projects since 2004, including the
award-winning feature film
Tangled Up in Blue
by Haider Rashid, and the short documentary
The Newspaper House
by Sumer Erek which
was featured in The Guardian. Prior to 2004, she
collaboratedonvideoart projects including
Garcia
Lorca esta Vivo?,
a film by award-winning Dutch
filmmaker Eef De Graaf which was selected for
the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, and Film
festival Cannes-Short film Corner.
Image Matters
A documentary directed by Rozy Sarkis
“The two women talking
about shopping in the
midst of war—there
are so many layers of
contemporary culture
captured in IMAGE
MATTERS simultaneously,
such as a distracting
investment in the surface,
a solution to anxiety...”
Virginia Blum, Author of
‘Flesh Wounds: The Culture of
Cosmetic Surgery’
