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Our Queer Lens program returns for another year, featuring the newest work by Sélim Mourad alongside three short films. Mourad's Moss Agate uses a unique styles to create a self described "ode to life, an exploration of death and rebirth, a poem about cinema" while the accompanying films explore the different relationships between queer people and their families.

Arab Film and Media Institute's Senior Programmer Beshoy Botros sits down with director Salim Mourad to discuss his latest film MOSS AGATE.


Film synopsis:

Beirut, summer 2019

The filmmaker experiences a descent into the abyss. His health is at stake and his film community is falling apart.

His actress friend Tamara is the last one to leave.

After his death, Tamara meets François, a man whom she falls in love with, yet memories of the past keep coming back to her. As they encounter a previous member of the community, they start playing with precious stones. They do not know their dance is sacred. Amethyst, ruby, agates pass like magic from hand to hand.

Meanwhile, the filmmaker's mother gives birth to him again. He doesn’t remember much of his previous self, yet he starts a spiritual journey that will lead him back to Tamara. Both of them move to an unlikely place outside the city that they love.


Filmmaker bio:

Salim Mourad was born in Beirut in 1987. He did his bachelor and both master degrees in directing and film research in IESAV - Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut. His filmography is diverse and has included short personal documentaries like A letter to my sister (2008) in which he started his exploration of his family dynamics and A Trip to the barbershop (Yamagata Intl Film Fest 2009) as well as medium-length fictions like The demolition (2011) and X: the conception (2012) in which he mixes reality and fiction. His first feature documentary This Little Father Obsession (Visions du Réel 2016) that lives a beautiful festival life and deepens the filmmaker’s queer gaze on notions of procreation and transmission. And he has also created a political trilogy of the body: Linceul (2018), Cortex (2019) and Agate Mousse (2020) He is currently a film teacher in Beirut and is working on developing his next project.