Citadel

Atom Egoyan freely admits that Citadel is a strange beast. He never imagined that these intimate moments, captured a world away from his working milieu, would end up before an audience. But here they are. It had been 28 years since Egoyan's personal and professional partner, actress Arsinée Khanjian, had seen her native Lebanon. Egoyan documented the visit with a mini DV camera. Back home, the idea grew to create something from the footage. Citadel is an impressionist diary built around vacation scenes; it serves as an open commentary on Lebanese politics, the delicate ground of intimate relationships, the creative drive of a filmmaker, and the way we relate to reality through images. First and foremost, though, Citadel is a touching ode to Egoyan's muse. Open, meditative, tender and surprising.