Do You Love Me: A Country's Memory Reconstructed Without an Archive
Do You Love Me isn't a traditional documentary — there's no narrator walking you through Lebanon's history in chronological order. Instead, director Lana Daher has stitched together 70 years of archival material (film reels, TV broadcasts, home videos, photographs) into something closer to a love letter than a textbook. It's a portrait of a nation's collective memory, built from the only sources that survived: the private, scattered, unofficial ones.
The film's premise alone is worth paying attention to. Lebanon doesn't have a national archive. That detail matters — a lot. Daher wasn't pulling footage from some tidy institutional vault. She was hunting through fragments, reconstructing a national identity from moments of joy and intimacy mixed with footage of destruction and loss, all told through the eyes of citizens, filmmakers, and artists. What emerges is something rare: a documentary that treats memory itself as a political act.
What You're Actually Getting: 75 Minutes of Found Footage Arranged Into Meaning
Runtime: 75 minutes
Format: Documentary (archival)
Rating: 7.75/10
Year: 2026
The film doesn't have a traditional plot — it's an arrangement. Daher selected footage from seven decades and wove it into a meditation on what it means for a country to remember itself when no one was officially keeping records. You're watching Lebanon's collective psyche, fragmented but alive, told through the images citizens chose to capture and keep.
What strikes me about this approach is how quietly radical it is. Home videos aren't supposed to be national documents. Personal photographs aren't supposed to carry the weight of history. But in a country where the state failed to archive, they do.
Where Do You Love Me Is Screening & When
The film premiered at Venice Days in September 2025 — that's the parallel sidebar section of the Venice Film Festival known for championing bold, independent work. From there, Icarus Films acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights.
Here's what's confirmed:
- SXSW premiere: March 2026 (first major North American exposure)
- New York screening: July 10, 2026
- Wider theatrical release: Not yet announced
- Streaming availability: Hasn't been confirmed; Icarus Films handles theatrical and educational distribution, so any VOD or streaming window will come later
Variety reported that the acquisition signals serious U.S. attention for what could've been a festival-only release. Movie OTT is tracking all platform announcements — if you want to know the moment this hits a streaming service, the where-to-watch widget on this page will notify you.
Hard to say whether a full theatrical rollout is planned beyond SXSW and New York, but the Icarus deal is a strong indicator the film will get real distribution infrastructure behind it.
Why This Matters: Archival Documentaries Live or Die by Curation
An archival documentary's success hinges on one question: does the arrangement of found footage feel emotionally true, or just informational? Daher's approach — building a national portrait from sources that were never meant to be preserved (home videos, personal snapshots) — puts the film in conversation with other works that treat memory as resistance and renewal.
The Venice Days selection wasn't a minor credential either. That sidebar has a track record of launching documentaries that travel well on the festival circuit before finding broader audiences. The SXSW slot in March 2026 will test whether a 75-minute essay about Beirut made from found footage can connect with North American viewers who aren't film-festival regulars.
I keep thinking about what this film represents. It's not just a documentary — it's an act of preservation in a place where preservation was impossible. The filmmakers essentially said: if the state won't archive our memory, we will.
Who Made This & When It Was Made
Director: Lana Daher
Producers: Films de Force Majeure, Wood Water Films, My Little Films
Production year: 2025
The co-production structure (three production companies across what appears to be multiple countries) suggests international ambitions from the start. This wasn't a scrappy solo project — it was built with institutional support, which probably explains how Daher was able to track down, license, and arrange 70 years of footage in the first place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it out yet?
Not to the general public. The film has screened at Venice (2025) and is working toward its 2026 North American dates. SXSW in March and New York in July are the clearest dates on record.
Where will I watch it?
Streaming rights haven't been announced. Movie OTT will notify you the moment it hits a platform — that's what the where-to-watch tool does.
Is this the same as the 1946 Do You Love Me?
No. There's a 1946 American Technicolor musical with that title, but Daher's work is a completely separate 2025/2026 Lebanese documentary. No connection.
How long is it?
75 minutes. Lean. No filler.
Who should watch this?
Anyone interested in documentary filmmaking, Lebanese cinema, or how memory gets preserved in places where institutions fail. If you've watched films like The Act of Killing or Sans Soleil — works that use found footage or unconventional archival material to explore collective trauma and identity — this will likely resonate.
What to Expect When It's Available
The film is built on a simple, profound premise: a country's memory is worth saving, even (or especially) when it's scattered, fragmented, and unofficial. When Do You Love Me reaches you — whether that's at SXSW, on a theater screen in July, or eventually through streaming — it's the kind of work that rewards full attention. No phones. No skipping ahead.
Check back with Movie OTT for release updates, festival news, and coverage as 2026 approaches. The moment this film becomes available to stream, you'll get notified.