Callas fans are mild-mannered in comparison.  No passion for a European
or American opera singer can begin to approximate the adulation millions
in the Middle East have had for Lebanon's Fairuz for the past half a
century...  and yet, she is virtually unknown in this country.

To set things right, the San Francisco Arab Film Festival is showing
Jack Janssen's "We Loved Each Other So Much," a fascinating, moving
documentary about a singer who alone binds together a war-torn nation
of deadly, irreconcilable factions.  (If the title sounds familiar,
you're thinking of Ettore Scola's 1977 film.)

One by one, Christians, Palestinian refuges, Muslims, left-wing and
right-wing activists, soldiers, militia, civilians, jailers and the
jailed march by in Janssen's 2003 film, talking about their lives, living
through the long, terrible civil war, and - always - about Fairuz.  The
universal love for her overrides all differences; worship for her ranges
from the bizarre to the touching.  The soundtrack consists entirely of
her singing, so the film provides an instant education about this
remarkable artist, who sings simply, intimately, touching the heart on
first hearing.  (Footage of Beirut now shows a busy, "normal" city, but
with wreckage on the order of Dresden's.)

Nouhad Haddad, who later took the stage name of Fairuz (or Fayrouz -
meaning "turquoise"), is 71, but apparently still performing on a full
schedule.  She has been incredibly productive: one of several "complete
Fairuz collections" consist of 84 CDs - more than half of the "complete
Bach" set.  A good source for her music is http://www.maqam.com, search
for her by name.

"We Loved Each Other" will be screened at 6:45, on Friday, Oct.  8, in
Camera 12, San Jose; and at 12:15, on Sunday, Oct.  10, at the United
Artists Theater, Berkeley.

Janos Gereben
www.sfcv.org
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