Award winning director, creator of several documentaries and dramatic features, once censored by the Lebanese government, Chahal was embraced as a cultural ambassador and a voice of conscience in her homeland. ‘Civilized People’ released in 1999, her first feature shot in Lebanon, a black comedy about the Lebanese civil war, was cut by the censors afraid of disturbing the fragile peace between the sects and political factions. Though recognized by UNESCO and Human Rights Watch, the film was vilified in the press and in the mosques.
For Chahal, who experienced the twenty year civil war first hand, the film was another attempt to prove the collective responsibility for every bullet spent in order to heal as a nation. In a complete turnaround, ‘The Kite’, an unlikely love story between a Lebanese and an Israeli soldier guarding a border checkpoint was hailed as a triumph in Lebanon bringing home the Silver Lion Prize at Venice. Chahal was awarded in 2003 the nation’s highest honor, Chevalier of the Order of Cedar.
After a long battle against cancer, Randa gave up and closed her eyes, summer 2008.
The interview with Ricardo Karam took place in Beirut, Lebanon.