This study provides a comprehensive assessment of censorship in Lebanon which will hopefully allow local artistic and cultural actors the opportunity to lobby for the most appropriate legislative amendments to the current censorship regulations.

PEN International in collaboration with Freemuse and PEN Lebanon have submitted a joint report to the Working Group on the UPR for Lebanon, with a specific focus on the protection of artistic freedom.

Clotaire K was born in France by a Lebanese mother and an Egyptian father. He writes, arranges and records music, and in this interview, recorded while he visited Denmark to perform during the Images of the Middle East festival in 2006, he speaks about how he perceives music as a …

The Lebanese Death Metal trio Oath to Vanquish published their debut album on 25 July 2006 in Europe and USA, but not in their home country, Lebanon. In this video interview, recorded in Beirut on 8 July 2006, the two brothers Elias and Carlos, along with third member of the band, Cyril, explain …

Xardas is a 24-year-old Lebanese composer of Dark Ambient music, based in Tripoli. In June 2006, 150 copies of his albums were confiscated, and he was warned by General Security that if they caught him with this type of music again, he would be imprisoned without trial. The interview was …

Marie Korpe (ed.) ’All that is Banned is Desired’ Conference on Freedom of Expression in Music, Beirut 2005Freemuse, Copenhagen, 2006 ISSN: 1601-2127 Read the report (in English language) Purchase printed version Read the report (in Arabic language)  There is an Arab saying ‘Kul Mamnou’ Marghoub.’ ‘All that is banned is …

Better the devil you know At the Freemuse conference on freedom of musical expression in Beriut, October 2005, Ali Abu Shadi spoke about his work as the chairman of the central Censorship Department in Egypt. “I accepted the job because I wanted to do something positive. I tried to change …

It is banned to ban Summary of Mai Ghoussoub’s speech at the Freemuse Conference in Beirut, 2005 “Censorship never works.” This was the overall message from Mai Ghoussoub at the Beirut conference on Freedom of Expression and Music in October, 2005. An absolute principle of her youth was the phrase …

Lebanese authorities banned US horror film "Annabelle: Creation" from cinemas after some Christian clerics expressed opposition to some of the scenes.

Film director Ziad Doueiri was held and questioned by security officers at the Beirut airport, then appeared in court for shooting a 2013 film in Israel.