A Cultural Melting Point Mediterranean Journey is a documentary which explores different countries in the Middle East with the aim of identifying what the current distinctive cultures have in common. In this 10-part series, journalists Jaafar Abdel Karim and Sineb El Masrar from DW Chanel have travelled the coast of the Mediterranean, starting with Lebanon, where the political and economic upheavals still present the remanences of the civil war between the Muslim and Christian communities. “The Mediterranean, which once was a major cross road at the heart of the ancient world, currently forms as a barrier between Europe and Africa.”
In 2019 the journalists visited MARCH in Tripoli with co-founder Lea Baroudi, to check out the work of the cultural caffe Kahwetna. They highlighted MARCH’s work between the communities of Beb El Tebeneh and Jabal Mohsen in the region revolving around sharing the stories of conflict and implementing reconciliation projects to counter aggression. The documentary also showcases the prominence of MARCH’s community center in fostering discussion to overcome the fear of the other “where the language of weapons has turned into joined forces for repairing the region.”
The documentary also presents conversations with activists and journalists in different regions of the country mainly the discussing the societal taboo of homosexuality with Joumana Haddad in Batroun, the Chain Effect initiative with Zeina Hawa in Beirut, and the fair-trade project “Master Peace” by interviewing Syrian refugee women in Bekaa.
