Picture: Miguel Bueno
A letter co-signed by Les Films de l’Etranger, GoldenEggProduction, Lokman’s sister Rasha al-Ameer and his wife Monika Borgmann, demands an investigation into the execution earlier this month of documentary filmmaker and Lebanese political scientist Lokman Slim.
The appeal, which further calls upon the support of the international documentary industry, is addressed to Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission), Jean-Yves Le Drian (Minister for European and Foreign Affairs) and Mr. Josep Borrell (High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs).
The text reads:
“If it legitimately arouses indignation at international level, the execution of Lokman Slim, documentary filmmaker and Lebanese political scientist, on the night of last Wednesday the 3rd to Thursday the 4th of February, on a road controlled by Hezbollah, plunges us into our worst fear.
“This noble and respected figure of scholarly and independent thought is no more. He was eliminated to take away his freedom of speech.
“We pay tribute here to the imperious courage of an exceptional man, of an authentic resistance figure, serene in the world’s tumult, unshakable in his humanism and openness. The loss is considerable, for the Lebanon as for all of us.
“Massaker (2004) and Tadmor (2016), the two films co-directed with his wife, Monika Borgmann, unforgettable works which have been honored around the world, including in Beirut, were an impressive extension of their joint work on Lebanese memory.
“This despicable act alerts us and incites us, with more energy than ever, to mobilize ourselves to fight against the sowers of hatred and the most common terrorists.
“This murder is not only infamous, it is also revolting because this intractable fighter of corruption and confessionalism, far from preaching aversion, has always pleaded in favour of pluralism and democracy, desiring to go beyond the traumas of the past, and acting for the right to justice and truth.
“It is also the most recent political symptom of a will, in whichever country, to repress – by imprisoning, by removing them – all the intellectuals and the artists who do not toe the line, troublesome witnesses of the disasters of the world.
“Les Films de l’Etranger & GoldenEggProduction, friends and close collaborators, in solidarity with his sister, Rasha al-Ameer, writer and publisher, and his wife, Monika Borgmann, journalist and filmmaker, invite you to co-sign their tribute and their firm request for an independent international investigation to shed light on his execution, addressed to the Minister for European and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, to Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and to Mr. Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs.”
