This is the story of the most powerful non-nuclear explosion in modern times: the Beirut Port explosion in Lebanon on Aug. 4, 2020. On that day, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate destroyed the port of Beirut, killing at least 235 people and devastating a third of the Lebanese capital.
How could such a tragedy happen? Faced with a judicial investigation and inquiries long paralyzed by political interference, a true counter-investigation took shape. Journalists, researchers and other engaged citizens launched a determined investigation to break the silence and reconstruct the pieces of a criminal puzzle.
This 70-minute documentary, produced by L’Orient-Le Jour (and broadcast on ICI RDI, a Radio-Canada channel, on Aug. 4 at 8 p.m., Montreal time), brings together their revelations for the first time. By retracing the events over seven years, the film looks back at the origins of the tragedy: the journey of the ship Rhosus, an opaque transaction and shell companies, the diversion to Lebanon, where it was not supposed to go, followed by warnings about the product’s danger, ignored by Lebanese authorities, culminating in the Aug. 4, 2020, explosion. The documentary also looks at the many rumors and leads mentioned in the aftermath of the disaster — a possible involvement of Israel, Hezbollah or the Bashar al-Assad regime — and on what the investigations conducted over seven years have allowed to establish, nuance or dismiss.
Based on confidential documents and official correspondence, these investigations by L’Orient-Le Jour, OCCRP, Human Rights Watch, Al Jadeed and Orient XXI show how the authorities, up to the highest level of the state, ignored warnings about national security and the danger represented by this explosive stockpile. Between administrative failure, political scandal and networks of influence, discover the anatomy of this disaster foretold, marked by a cocktail of impunity and criminal irresponsibility, as well as the fight of the victims of the Beirut explosion for truth and justice.
Director: Lucile Wassermann
Production: L’Orient-Le Jour
Cinematography: Jad Abou Jaoude, Mohammad Yassine, Lucile Wassermann
Editing: Jad Abou Jaoudé
Color grading: Ziad al-Malla/Dedica Post
Sound mixing: Joseph Obied/Dedica Post
Music: Envato/AudioJungle
Archives: Agence France-Presse
Documents: Human Rights Watch, OCCRP, L’Orient-Le Jour
Editorial adviser: Séverine Bardon
Editor-in-chief: Anthony Samrani