Tunis
In Arabic with English subtitles
Screening of short movies, sharing stories of queer people from different countries of the global south (Palestine, Tunisia, Jordan, India, Lebanon), with a focus on the shared, similar struggles queer people go through under the oppression of society and laws. The screenings will be followed by a debate with the public about these thematic, the close realities and the intersection of Queer and Palestinian struggle
Films
À TRIBORD, JE VOMIS – TO STARBOARD, I VOMIT
Tarek Sardi
Zarga, Dorra, and Mohammed find themselves after years of separation together, reunited in a club’s toilet. Between betrayal and unspoken truths, the old classmates reveal their deepest secrets and taboos.
Tarek Sardi is an independent and self-taught Tunisian author and director. His inspiration is drawn from his quest for humanism and his skepticism about the monotonous cadence and the heavy atmosphere of his hometown, Tunis.
WOMEN AND GIRLS
Cherien Dabis
An intimate portrait of three generations of women with deeply conflicting values, Not Another Word – set against the backdrop of Jordan’s ongoing internet censorship debate – explores the idea that censorship starts at home.
Cherien Dabis (born 1976) is a Palestinian-American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of Variety magazine’s 10 Directors to Watch in 2009.
MARCO
Saleem Haddad
Omar has been living in London for a decade. One evening, restless after another pleading voicemail from his mother, he invites over Marco, a Spanish student newly arrived in London, who’s doing sex work to earn some extra cash. But when Marco arrives, Omar can’t shake the feeling that something’s not quite right about the young man. As their night together progresses truths are revealed, Omar discovers the lengths that Marco has gone to arrive in London.
Saleem Haddad was born in Kuwait City to an Iraqi-German mother and a Palestinian-Lebanese father. Haddad has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières and other international organisations in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, and Egypt. Following the publication of his first novel, Guapa, in 2016, Saleem has been described as “an Arab Tennessee Williams”.
SISAK
Faraz Ansari
Set in the fast-paced environs of the usually bustling Mumbai local train system, Sisak details a romance that develops slowly and intoxicatingly, nestled in the silences and quiet comforts of the end-of-day train journeys. A return to the unspoken, unsaid and universal expressions of love, on the path of subtlety and humanity, Sisak is the result of the belief that if love knows no bounds, it need not be bound with words, either. Billed as India’s First Silent LGBTQ Love Story, Sisak is the first ever Indian film to win 59 International Awards – A milestone for Indian cinema set by a silent queer film.
Faraz Arif Ansari was born in India. Studied in the United States and then moved back to India when he realized that there is a lot of work that has to be done – cinematically & socially, given the political and social dogmas that thrive in Indian society. He is a director and writer, known for Sisak (2017), Sheer Qorma (2021) and Siberia