On Three Posters

On Three Posters is based on found footage of video testimony recorded by members of the Lebanese Communist Party prior to embarking on their suicide missions.

Shortly before his death in 1985, Jamal Salti, a resistance fighter against the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon (1982–2000), rehearsed his video testimony in three takes that show only minor differences. This is the point of departure for thoughts on the tension between fundamental human traits and the heroic representation of martyrdom.

Rabih Mroué’s analysis focuses on a moment of hesitation in one of the unused takes and reveals how the reception of this work has shifted in a post 9/11 geopolitical landscape since its original performance as Three Posters with Elias Khoury in the year 2000.