A situation report from the Gaza Strip in February 2009, just one month after the end of Israelʼs military offensive.
Destruction everywhere. The bombs did not even spare the theme park. The ghost train is out of order. But hasnʼt Gaza itself become a ghost town? Yes and no. Amid ruins, grief and despair, there are people who refuse to give up. Calmly and unspectacularly, without analysis or agitation, this film shows what it means to rebuild oneʼs life and daily common existence in a destroyed region that is cut off by an ongoing blockade. It transmits diverse impressions and voices from Gaza: children who have lost their relatives and young people who do not feel like taking a compulsory vacation, clowns who despite the nearby rocket fire still manage to make children laugh, and the politically-committed Darg Team rappers whose music is polarizing. It not only shows places such as the border crossing into Egypt, the hospital, the UN Food Distribution Center, the smugglersʼ tunnels and the refugee camps, but also the beach and the zoo. Thatʼs where the skeleton of a whale is being reconstructed. A beautiful image, despite everything.
In his film company dokumentar.no Lie has since 2008 been working as a film director, cinematographer and producer for documentaries. He works with the new Canon EOS 5D/7D with HD film, and edits in Apple's Final cut.
With Haiti mon Amour (Kjære Haiti, hva nå?) Lie went to Port-au-Prince after the earthqake with Ole Paus and others. We followed the money collected by the norwegian consert Dugnad for Haiti and NRK, and then given to Red Cross, Church Aid and UNICEF. It is edited as a low budget film essay, an montage of images. (se video below)
He has since 2007 worked on a documentary portrait – The Seduced Human – Jørgten Leth and Haiti on the danish renowned filmmaker Jørgen Leth (2011). This one-hour documentary is financed so far by the Norwegian Film Institute with 720 000 kroner – and will be released in 2011. (se video below)
Lie is also editor-in-chief for DOX, the leading European quarterly magazine for documentary films, published by the European Documentary Network. See PDFs of the last magaines below.
Lie has been the editor-in-chief and publisher for Morgenbladet between 1993-2003, and has been editor-in-chief/publisher of the Nordic edition of the monthly newspaper Le Monde diplomatique between 2003-08, where he now is still the publisher and regulary film critic.
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