I’ve Heard Stories is a short animated film staging a story that
took place at the Carlton hotel in Beirut.
In this video, Marwa Arsanios attempts to piece together
rumors surrounding the now demolished Hotel Carlton. The
hotel was a popular meeting place for gay men living in Beirut,
Lebanon, where homosexual acts are considered illegal. At
that time (1973 to 1993), the hotel was also the setting of three
murders that might or might not have been related to these
sexual encounters.
Among the victim of these (probably) passionate crimes was
the Lebanese politician and businessman Henri Pharaoun.
Known as a collector and the richest man in Lebanon during
most of his lifetime, Pharaoun was stabbed multiple times by
an unknown assailant (his lover, driver or cook). Nora was the
only witness to this murder. The nature of the murders went
unreported.
The animation explores different ways of narrating Arsanios’
reconstruction of the event through drawings and videos,
gossip and facts, in an effort to give these crimes their place
in the history of the city.