Esma is a young cabaret dancer of Algerian origin in search of freedom. Hantirah, a young Syrian doctor who is destined for a future mapped out by his parents, is torn between his love for her and his commitment to his fiancée, a medical student like him. On Eid day, between the streets of Barbès and the queer cabaret where Aragoz, Hantirah’s best Egyptian friend, performs, we discover a modern youth of various Arab origins.

Maskhara is a satirical Arabic Pop song encapsulating the combined struggles of living under occupation, fighting patriarchy, and going through the pandemic. Fusing various musical styles, from disco to ’80s nostalgia and Caribbean rhythms, the track stands as a window into counter-culture, ushering positivity into year-end and conveying hidden messages through images and symbols.

Ilkul 3am Bitjawaz (Everyone is Getting Married) is Bashar Murad’s debut in the realm of Arab Pop. Through both song and video, Murad employs satire to lampoon the relentless societal expectations surrounding marriage, particularly the notion that reaching 30 without a partner is a failure. In the self-directed visuals Bashar takes audacious steps by challenging conventional gender roles.

In a letter to herself, Soha Bechara, a Lebanese figure of the resistance to the Israeli occupation expresses her worries about her son Juan, who recently confessed to her that he was a boy in a girl’s body. Soha reflects on her child’s struggle and what it would mean for him if they had not left Lebanon to live in Switzerland.