The Valley of Tears

excellent movie! Very emotional and very powerful. The director said that it is not like Incendies but I think it is! Actually it is more intellectual as a film but as powerful as Incendies. Also, I don't see a big relation with Valse with Bashir, even though it talks about the same events. La Vallee of tears is more like an intimate film that has the brilliant way to bring the whole image of what is happening in this part of the world through the desperate lives of Marie the Canadian and Joseph the Lebanese/Palestinian, two solitudes like we say in Canada about Quebec. Anyway, it shook the hell out of me... My boyfriend, Canadian, was less moved, I guess it is a matter of being Lebanese myself... but he liked it as well!

The Valley of Tears may not deliver everything you expect because of its limited budget, but it is powerful. Director Maryanne Zehil presents a personal view of historic events that took place in Lebanon, a country in which she grew before settling in Canada. A full-length feature, filmed with subtlety and honesty. The Valley of Tears is beautifully done and get its message across clearly. It is definitely worth seeing for its visuals, performances, dialogues and score. Director Maryanne Zehil presents a personal view of historic events that took place in Lebanon, a country in which she grew before settling in Canada. An hour and a half, french and some arabic dialogues with English subtitles.

"Just when you think "The Valley of Tears" is going to be another good-for-you we-must- never-forget history movie -- about the 1982 massacres at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon, which have been forgotten by most of the world -- a shocking act of contemporary violence jolts the film into action. It is carried by the powerful performances of Joseph Antaki as Joseph, a secretive, sad- eyed immigrant to Montreal with a tragic past, and Nathalie Coupal as Marie, the depressive alcoholic Canadian genocide-book publisher who tries to convince him that to tell his story will be healing.

But then, a terrible act of revenge shatters Marie's plan, and she must travel to Lebanon to try to uncover the truth of Joseph's story. There she learns not only about Joseph's past, but also confronts some painful truths about herself. Truth about the massacres, which to this day remains a controversial topic in Lebanon and Israel, is harder to find. But healing, at least for Marie and Joseph's family, is at last seen as possible." LDM The Plaindealer

La Vallee des larmes is a heartfelt movie that grabs you by the throat and never let you go. I have seen a lot of films that talks about Palestinian issues, but never seen one with this depth, with such a pertinent and intelligent way of dealing with the subject, with a lot of feelings and emotion and yet in a very discreet way. I was amazed to know that the director is not Palestinian, because I thought the way the story was going deeper and deeper, that no one can ever tell something like that unless they've lived it. That's even more admirable, to be able to tell the story of someone else as if it was your own. I recommend it highly!

Very very courageous film and very strong story and ending. The director is very courageous to make such a film with a subject so strong. She is an inspiration and her very beautiful film is the best one I saw at the festival. She should have won best film for Human rights competition because she is so courageous and she shows a subject that nobody will ever have the courage to talk about. And she never takes any side, not Muslim, not Christian, not israeli. I admire the way that she choose to make her movie, a very human level. She has all my admiration. I recommend this very beautiful and very touching film and wish you can see it.