Hezbollah-inspired film imagines the 'liberation of the Galilee'
A group of Lebanese academics are creating a 'Hollywood-style' film which imagines Hezbollah taking over the Galilee in 2019.
Hezbollah continues to bleed in Syria, especially in the Qalamoun mountains on the Syria-Lebanon border, but the Hezbollay-affiliated media has found time in recent days to once again raise the issue of the "liberation of the Galilee."
On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese channel Al-Mayadeen and Hezbollah-mouthpiece Al-Manar chose to reveal this week that a group of young academics is diligently working on a new film called "Today", which imagines how its fighters will occupy the Galilee in 2019.
It is not clear when and where the film will be screened, but a short promo was uploaded to pro-Hezbollah channels in Lebanon. "This is a movie that imagines the collapse of the Zionist entity starting from the Galilee," an Al-Manar report says, followed by a speech made by Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in which he asks his men to be ready for the possibility that in the next war they will have to take over the Galilee.
"That speech had a big impact on us as an idea. We tried using a scenario to show the world how it will look when Israel is obliterated and how the takeover of the Galilee will look and how it will affect the enemy militarily, politically, economically and what the reactions here in Lebanon will be like," explains Lebanese screenwriter Mohammed Fachs to Hezbollah's channel.
"The film talks about 2019, but it is possible that at that time we will already be in the Galilee, sitting in a cinema for example" said Mahdi Kalas, the film's assistant director, who is also in charge of the film's score.
In the short promo, a short segment supposedly shows the "invasion" of Hezbollah and then the "revenge". From the broadcast, it is unclear whether the film has been completed or is still being made.
Al-Mayadeen's report on the film mentioned Nasrallah's remarks in an in-depth interview he gave to the station and its director Ghassan bin Jiddo, in which he said that in the event war breaks out, there is a possibility of his soldiers not only entering the Galilee but also going beyond the Galilee.
"Entering the Galilee is possible as long as there is a clear strategy and a will reinforced with belief and victory", said commentator Edmond Saab to Al Madayeen's website, which claimed that those making the film aren't prepared to answer the question as to why they chose 2019.
"We'll leave the answer to the movie itself," said Kazem Fayyad, the film's chief director. The channel claims that the films creators are anxious for the Galilee to be "liberated" before 2019.
The report noted that the film's creators are even preparing to send invitations to watch the film in cinemas in the "liberated Galilee".
The Al-Mayadeen report also remarks that "the creators need to work harder on the film to provide everyone with a Lebanese movie on a Hollywood level that imagines an expected event that will be seared into the public's imagination before it becomes reality. Perhaps in 2019, or sooner, or later. There is no difference."
Earlier this week, during Nasrallah's speech on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, a sign in Hebrew was hung up that read: "The entry to the Galilee – a promise will not be broken."
