Childhood Lost

Directed by Maria Ousseimi

Waad, 12 years old, lost both her legs when she was hit by shrapnel in her village in South Lebanon. Samir, 24, joined the militia when he was 9 and now has trouble falling asleep without the sound of shelling. Ahmad, 12, lost his mother and was abandoned by his father. Katia, 17, and Pascale, 16, watched helplessly as their male relatives were massacred. Rabih, 6, was part of a criminal street gang at age 4, and now lives in a Beirut orphanage. Through the eyes and voices of these Lebanese children and adolescents of various backgrounds, their experiences are relived. They demonstrate how they have coped, how war has colored their view of the world, how their hopes have been raised or dashed, along with their dreams and their prospects for the future.