I found out about Abboudi when I came across a reel, posted by his daughter Sima, recounting the story of her father’s passion for Middle Eastern and foreign movie posters. The aesthetic of his vintage prints didn’t go unnoticed. So, I decided to reach out to see these priceless memorabilia in person. 

If you ever end up visiting Abboudi, you will end up immersed in Arab cinematic history. The conversation will revolve around the beauty and the preservation of Arab culture, history and art.

Read about Abboudi, aka @abboudu.bj, an archivist, who believes that an enthusiast will grow to become a big collector and a pastime will become a long-term project. 

— Can you introduce yourself?

— I am Abboudi Bou Jawde. I am a publisher and a bookstore owner with more than twenty years of industry experience. I am also a cinephile turned collector and then archivist. Teenagers collect pictures of personalities that inspire them. I was no different. I collected the things that marked me, movie posters.

— Do you still remember the first poster that kickstarted this entire adventure? 

— My very first two movie posters were promotional material for “Bullitt” starring Steve McQueen and “Safar Barlik” starring “Fairouz”. 

— Why were you fascinated by “pop culture”? 

— We used to read celebrity news and magazines. However, I always had the impression that the story was incomplete. It wasn’t based on documented sources. This pushed me to collect “pop art”. For example, I have all the movie magazines that were published in Lebanon and in the Arab world. Moreover, I have theatre, literary, and popular magazines. I also tried to collect original movies and concert tickets. My target was to collect items from different eras to ensure that our popular conscience doesn’t fall into oblivion.

— How is pop-culture perceived today?

— Sadly, the Arab world only felt the importance of archiving in the last ten years. It was introduced to our societies by a new crop of young individuals. Nowadays, universities are promoting it. These institutions used to focus solely on academic and major intellectual events. Pop culture went under the radar. Right now, it is taking centre stage. 

— We are at your shop in Ras Beirut. Can you explain to our readers the historical importance of this location?

— Historically, Ras Beirut was a meeting point for university students, Lebanese, Arab and foreign nationals alike, who completed their studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB), which is located nearby. However, times have changed. Facing AUB, Bliss Street used to house eight bookshops. Today, there is only one: Librairie du Liban. The Ras Beirut Library, Al Sakafa Library, Al-Hakim Library and many more shut-up shops. They were the chosen bookstores for Arab students. The nearby Hamra Street housed Librarie Antoine, Khayat Library, High End, and Four Steps Down, which specialised in selling foreign-language books for international students. The majority of Arab political leaders from a certain epoch have mentioned in their memoirs that they used to go to the Ras Beirut Library or Al Sakafa Library to buy books that shaped their intellectual identities. 

— What can someone expect from visiting your store? 

— We organise expositions about the film industry on a regular basis. Each expo revolves around a given theme. We have a big archive that can be consulted by students and researchers. We assist the individuals who want to study or learn about this field’s history by granting them access to our resources, like magazines and newspapers. We also have an archive that covers the Egyptian, Lebanese, Syrian and Iraqi film industries. We have around twenty thousand pictures and videos that can be put at their disposal. 

— Is the new generation interested in discovering this heritage? Are they attracted by the vibrant colours and lively pictures? Are they tip toing their way into this world?

— It is the case to a certain extent. However, there is a deep sense of nostalgia. They want to know more about the past generations popular culture. They do so by collecting some items or souvenirs. 

—  When was the first movie poster rolled out? 

— The genesis of movie posters coincided with the beginning of the film industry. In Europe and the United States, the movie poster sector was part of the wider well-developed advertising industry. In the Arab world, promotional material for Arabic movies, mainly Egyptian ones, was generally text-based. They were designed by calligraphists. On some rare occasions, they would remove the text and opt for an image of the leading actor. With time, proper movie posters were introduced. They first appeared in the 1930s and became mainstream later on. Initially, they were designed by painters hailing from the Greek or Armenian communities in Egypt. Around the same time, the first colour printing presses were introduced to the Arab world, which contributed to the proliferation of this art. 

—  How old is your oldest poster?

— It was designed in 1932. It is almost 100 years old.

— What role did these posters play in shaping Arab Societies? How did they help in documenting Arab social history? 

— Back then, posters were the most potent way to promote movies. Trailers and ads didn’t exist. The movie theatres were big, and each poster was divided into many sub-images. People used to look at these images and try to imagine the scenes before going in. It was a visual medium that encouraged people to watch movies. The posters and pictures were designed to be big and aesthetically pleasant. They were drawn by professional painters. The connoisseurs and enthusiasts were familiar with the directors’ filmography and the actors’ cinematic history, so they didn’t need them. However, the vast majority of cinemagoers did rely on them. Moreover, the experts and I have found out that these posters were designed to reflect the public’s preferences at a given time. For example, they depicted happy faces, beautiful female leading actresses and male leading actors in a positive light. Furthermore, each decade had its own codes. In the 1940s and 1950s, Arabic movies did not show kissing scenes. In the 1960s, movie posters started depicting kissing scenes. It is very interesting how these promotional materials reflected the changes and shifts in each epoch. 

— What makes a poster movie a memorable one? 

— The secret for a memorable poster is not the shapes, shades, and scenes that are depicted, but the feeling that it conveys. 

— Is the art of poster designing dying? 

— Sadly, what we are seeing today cannot be described as poster designing. The old posters were designed differently. The input of several individuals was required. The directors, producers, painters and actors were involved in the design process. I found out that some actors used to share their preferences with painters on how they should be illustrated. Designing a poster required time, sweat and effort. The production phase was divided into several parts: drawing, engraving, and printing. The last part was tricky because manipulating the printing press wasn’t easy, and any mistake would result in colour changes. In this day and age, it is far too easy. You simply cut the image and post it. To make it glossier, you can add effects. It can also be customised, and its design does not require a single individual. The designing process became quasi-mechanic, and the poster can be edited and re-edited. Back in the day, you had to accept the finished design as is. New technologies have certainly changed poster design. The human element isn’t the only actor any longer. Artistic vision is lacking. Graphic designers have replaced the input of painters, directors and actors. Previously, a poster took up to two months to be designed. Nowadays, it can be done in less than two days. In the past, a designer used to watch the entire movie to get inspired. Today, watching a couple of scenes is deemed enough. Back then, the directors, producers, designers and sometimes actors contributed to the brainstorming process. These days, each element works on its own since they have endless second chances to make quick amendments. The old posters used to be big. They were designed to fill large spaces. Each country had its own norms and proportions. The poster size was dictated by the printing machines that were used in each country. Nowadays, they all look similar. 

— You mentioned that you have digital copies of the references you own. How is technology helping you to preserve your archive?

— It made archiving easier. With hard copies, there is always the risk of paper decaying and deterioration. Thanks to new technologies, it has become possible to consult references at any moment in a timely manner. It helped me to create an index to catalogue my collection, which is good for someone who has between seven and eight thousand pictures. In the past, it was possible to manually catalogue and store references, but it required a lot of time. It is something that universities and private institutions used to do. It used to be a full-time job. In our time and age, finding a reference has never been easier. It only takes a couple of clicks. To be fair, technological progress allowed me to continue with this project because it helped me sort everything out. Otherwise, I would have been crushed under the sheer weight of my collection!

— In the era of smartphones and social media, every mundane detail is documented. How do you think that impacts the future of archiving and the profession of archivist? Does it offer an added value or is it trivializing archiving?

— Archiving used to be limited to a certain group of individuals. Nowadays, it has become more accessible. I wouldn’t say it trivialised archiving, but it made it much more difficult to document the important things. It is a double-edged sword. I believe that it is too early to judge the true impact of social media on archiving. Time will tell. 

— You are the author of “Tonight”, a book documenting the history of cinema in Lebanon between 1929 and 1979. Why did you feel the need to write it? 

— I had a strong passion for international movie posters in my youth. Sadly, I wasn’t interested in Arabic movies. I wasn’t aware of its importance and legacy. Whenever I visited a cinema in Lebanon or in the Arab world, I used to ask for international movie posters, and the staff would end up handing me additional Lebanese and Arab movie posters without actually asking for them. After gathering minimal facts about these extra posters, I would put them aside. However, I started to find posters for Lebanese movies that I never heard of. This intrigued and incited me to know more about Lebanese film history. With time, my collection grew bigger and bigger, and my desire to know more about the movies that they promoted became stronger. Despite contacting many individuals and reaching out to public entities, I never managed to put my hands on accurate historical references. Therefore, I embarked on a quest to uncover the origin stories of these movies. The book was an extension of this journey. It took me more than a decade to finalise it. It contains a lot of details that are published for the first time. It includes information about all the movies that were shot in Lebanon during these fifty years. In fact, Lebanon used to be a regional production hub back in the 1960s. During that time, around twenty-five international films were shot in the country. Countless Egyptian, Syrian and joint productions with Turkey were also filmed. On a related note, I would have liked for this publication to cover the period from 1929 till 2016, the book’s release date. However, it wasn’t feasible since it would have been too big. I hope that I will be able to publish a sequel. Also, I would like to write a book about Arab film history, but with a twist. Existing literature lacks visual material. I would incorporate them in my book. I believe that pictures and photos should take centre stage. 

— Who are you leaving this legacy to?

— To whomever is interested. I am trying to create an institute specialising in archiving and storing this reference type. Ideally, these references should be openly displayed and accessible to the public. Several avenues are being perused, and hopefully, this project will see the light. However, it will require significant resources to find the appropriate facility to house them. We need a big space. So far, I am using my personal resources. However, I hope that I can strike some partnerships to put it on the right track.