The Lebanese Keserwany sisters Michelle and Noel are back with a new music video, accurately describing today’s Lebanon as they strike against the government, the militias, and the mafias in the country.
“Allo? Cyber Crime Unit? I thought I call you and beat you to it.”
With these words, Michelle Keserwany starts the video, insinuating that they might get into trouble for this music video as it has been for people expressing their opinions online.
They creatively go through hot topics, briefly and to the point, describing corruption and negligence, and the hardships imposed on the Lebanese people, as the video rolls on, with ironic messages that are not void of bitter truths.
Four days ago, Michelle and Noel announced the upcoming release of their new video on their Instagram, calling it “a short musical film that contains pieces of ourselves in it.”
“A trip done with skilled and fearless friends. A trip in which we did our best to put together words, sounds, and images to describe the undescribable situation we’re in,” Michelle wrote.
Titled Alf Leileh w Leil, it is only in the concept of a never-ending saga that it relates to the “One Thousand and One Nights” of the Persian legend of Shahrazad.
The one thousand and one nights of the Lebanese in this video is the never-ending saga of their hardships as they endure corruption, oppression, injustice, political interferences in the judiciary, crises, smuggling…
“Night, Oh Night,” the sisters sing as scenes of darkness unfurls in a country without electricity. “A generation that stood firm and waited a thousand and one nights for the woe to pass.”
The dark humor is not lost in their presentation, as they’ve done it in their previous popular music videos. Endorsing the tone of a flight attendant, Noel makes an ironic call:
“Dear passengers, we have now started our landing. Please fasten your seatbelts and, in case the descent doesn’t stop and we continue crashing, for your safety, please refrain from calling on any high-profile official or person of rank, and please disable all phone cameras. The doors of hell greet the great people of Lebanon! God speed.”
In a passage, a question is put forward, “Then, now, where are the revolutionaries?”
The answer is there, in images and scenes, and messages that they are still there, what is being done and what can be done, “for the revolution is an idea” and “you cannot hold an idea prisoner.”
Strong messages are there conveyed, of resistance and actions, of unity and resilience, and also of a people that have pledged to never forget the Beirut Blast.
“We won’t forget, we won’t compromise, we won’t reconcile, we won’t shake hands,” they repeated as they ended their music video, further emphasizing again: “We won’t forget.”
This is another successful video by Michelle and Noel Keserwany in which they stand as the voices of the Lebanese people who refuse to be silenced and submit to an unbearable status quo.
They used their skills to creatively bring this powerful message to the world, showing the darkness of the country and the promise of a Thawra that refuses to yield.
Watch it here:
