Thawra Soul

Philippe Aractingi

Director

Philippe Aractingi is a Lebanese director, producer, photographer and author, born in Beirut in 1964. Self-taught, and among the first filmmakers to emerge in Lebanon's postwar cinema, he began photographing the civil war as a teenager and directed his first television documentary at 21.

In 1992, as Lebanon's borders reopened, he directed Par le Regard des Mères, a documentary on Lebanese mothers across religious communities, and co-wrote a companion book with Dr. Leila Chikhani Nacouz. After fifteen years in France directing documentaries for Discovery Channel, France Télévisions, Arte, NDR and Sky, he returned home to direct Bosta (2005), Lebanon's biggest-grossing postwar release, and Under the Bombs (2006), shot two days after that summer's ceasefire and honored with 23 international awards, including selections at Sundance and Venice. Both were Lebanon's official submissions for the Academy Awards.

His later films include the autobiographical Heritages (2014), now taught at Boston University, and Listen (2018), Lebanon's submission to the Golden Globes. More recently, he has directed the archaeological documentary Lebanon: Secrets of the Kingdom of Byblos (2025, Arte) and written and performed a one-man theatrical show, Sar Waet El Haki, staged across Lebanon, France, Tunisia and Germany.

A founding member of the Fondation Liban Cinéma and former Vice-President of the Screen Institute Beirut, Aractingi was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2018.