François Yazbeck
Biography
François Yazbeck is a Lebanese sound designer, film director, doctoral researcher, and musician based in Helsinki. His artistic research project, Ruptured Memories – Visceral Cinema as a Counter-Memory Political Stance, explores memory-scape cinema and the complexities of ruptured histories in the wake of catastrophe, with a particular focus on Lebanon.
His debut feature film, Nécrose (2024), premiered at IFFR 2024. His second feature, Dark Verses, continues his exploration of "visceral cinema" and its impact on temporal and spatial perceptions, particularly in relation to memory, embodiment, and trauma.
François is the founder of Corps Céleste, a collective of Lebanese artists.
Photo credit: François Yazbeck
Nécrose
2024
80 min film
Nécrose, my debut feature film, serves as a foundation for my current artistic research. Created before I started my artistic research, the film explores the profound and cosmic sense of ruination, decay, postmemory and the fragmented self through a visceral, anachronistic structure. Indeed, while the visuals and context are rooted in Lebanon, it aspires to transcend geographical boundaries. Its aesthetics create a sense of tangible post-human reality. Through evocative montages and the interplay of sounds and images, the film seeks to create an immersive “memory-scape”, prompting a dialogue about a decaying world. It represents a final act of atonement as the natural landscapes and detached urban scenery progressively disintegrate.
Additionally, the sound design of the film was partly made of inaudible sounds, infra & ultrasounds, that I have recorded and manipulated.
Nécrose was both a conceptual and emotional entry point into the themes that now drive my research.
