Children of the Cedars

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoqcHhVeBIA (5 Jan 2020)

Children of the Cedars

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Filmmaker: Dimitri Khodr

The adoption of children across international borders is hugely controversial.

Arthur Block has always been haunted by his adoption from Lebanon when he was just six months old. Now, he is determined to lay some ghosts to rest.

He was adopted from Lebanon in 1976 - a year after the civil war started and while disorder and corruption was rife.

Twenty-seven years after being adopted into a loving Dutch family, he decided to travel back to Beirut to piece together his past.

Filmmaker Dimitri Khodr records Arthur's emotional journey as he investigates the taboo subject of the adoption of the children of the cedars, so called because the cedar is Lebanon's national symbol.

This honest film is layered with reflection using the power of film to unravel and confront complex feelings as well as simply recording Arthur's journey.

When he takes desperate measures to track down his biological mother the story takes a powerful turn leaving Arthur faced with some very difficult decisions.

Children of the Cedars follows Arthur's search for his parents, the truth and himself.

Source: Al Jazeera