Co-presented by Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project, GLAAD & Arab American National Museum
find yourself through forming connections with others. The The The The The This year's Queer Lens program highlights the importance of relationships and community building for young LGBTQ+ Arabs. Featuring a diverse set of award-winning shorts from the Levant, North Africa, and the diaspora, each of these films contend with what it means to find yourself through forming connections with others. The filmmakers explore how Queer Arab youth seek out one another across space and time: by connecting across countries, finding solace in older generations, or through exploring hidden queer narratives in Arab history. Despite the obstacles of social stigma, physical distance, and historical distortion, Queer Arabs remain steadfast in their efforts to establish a community of acceptance and understanding with and for each other.
The writer and filmmaker Abdellah Taia writes a letter to his gay nephew, Brahim, to help him getting out of fear, to support him, to walk beside him. To love him strongly.
About the Filmmaker:
Born in Rabat in 1973, Abdellah Taïa has published several novels with Éditions du Seuil, which have been released in translation in Europe and the United States: The King’s Day (Prix de Flore 2010), Un pays pour mourir (PEN America Literary Awards 2021) and Vivre à ta lumière (2022). In 2014, he directed his first film, The Salvation Army. Based on his novel of the same name, the film was selected for the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, and was awarded the Grand Prix at the Angers European First Film Festival as well as the Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award.
- Year2023
- Runtime10 minutes
- LanguageFrench
- CountryMorocco, France
- PremiereNorth American Premiere
- GenreDocumentary, LGBTQ+
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorAbdellah Taïa
- ScreenwriterAbdellah Taïa
- ProducerSaïd Hamich Benlarbi, Sophie Penson, Judith Abitbol
- CastAbdellah Taïa
- EditorNobuo Coste
- Production DesignJudith Abitbo
- Sound DesignAgathe Poche
Co-presented by Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project, GLAAD & Arab American National Museum
find yourself through forming connections with others. The The The The The This year's Queer Lens program highlights the importance of relationships and community building for young LGBTQ+ Arabs. Featuring a diverse set of award-winning shorts from the Levant, North Africa, and the diaspora, each of these films contend with what it means to find yourself through forming connections with others. The filmmakers explore how Queer Arab youth seek out one another across space and time: by connecting across countries, finding solace in older generations, or through exploring hidden queer narratives in Arab history. Despite the obstacles of social stigma, physical distance, and historical distortion, Queer Arabs remain steadfast in their efforts to establish a community of acceptance and understanding with and for each other.
The writer and filmmaker Abdellah Taia writes a letter to his gay nephew, Brahim, to help him getting out of fear, to support him, to walk beside him. To love him strongly.
About the Filmmaker:
Born in Rabat in 1973, Abdellah Taïa has published several novels with Éditions du Seuil, which have been released in translation in Europe and the United States: The King’s Day (Prix de Flore 2010), Un pays pour mourir (PEN America Literary Awards 2021) and Vivre à ta lumière (2022). In 2014, he directed his first film, The Salvation Army. Based on his novel of the same name, the film was selected for the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, and was awarded the Grand Prix at the Angers European First Film Festival as well as the Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award.
- Year2023
- Runtime10 minutes
- LanguageFrench
- CountryMorocco, France
- PremiereNorth American Premiere
- GenreDocumentary, LGBTQ+
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorAbdellah Taïa
- ScreenwriterAbdellah Taïa
- ProducerSaïd Hamich Benlarbi, Sophie Penson, Judith Abitbol
- CastAbdellah Taïa
- EditorNobuo Coste
- Production DesignJudith Abitbo
- Sound DesignAgathe Poche