L’Orient was founded in 1924, followed by Le Jour in 1934, both enduring the turbulence of Lebanon and the Middle East — a troubled region. Yet, L’Orient-Le Jour — created in 1971 from the merger of these two French-language newspapers — remains here, 101 years later, more dynamic than ever.
We made a film based on this story from Lebanon and the Middle East, although, honestly, it should never have existed because it was never actually shot.
The images you are about to see come solely from archival photos, mainly from the Georges Boustany collection. These photos have been colorized and animated using artificial intelligence by our technological partner, WhiteBeard.
The editing and text are by L’Orient-Le Jour. In this unusual docufilm, you will see the Beirut of the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and beyond come back to life thanks to AI.
(Click CC for English subtitles.)
