In an ideal world, love defines our relationships with friends and family members. But love often comes to us in unexpected moments and forms, as we experience kindness from a stranger, encouragement from a rival sibling, or attention from a new romantic interest. In this short segment, love takes many forms and it underpins stories of diaspora, longing, and relocation, demonstrating the strength of relationships between family and friends, old and new, to provide solace and support.
Grinding away at the inherited family business, Mohamed works tirelessly selling knock-off perfume, while living as a knock-off version of himself. His doting mother Marwa brings him lunch every day and sets up chay dates with potential romantic interests (and their families) seemingly every night. Inside of this monotony, Mohamed is lying to himself about his sexuality and leaning into the mask of masculinity in order to maintain the expectations of those around him, but in reality the biggest expectations of how he should be are set by himself. We follow Mohamed on a day when the monotony comes to a screeching halt—an unexpected, charming customer enters his shop. Mohamed shares a connection with this beautiful stranger who lives in self-acceptance and who truly sees him underneath the many layers of Polo Sport–adjacent cologne. In Eitr, Mohamed’s fear of his true desires will be tested as he is caught off-guard by the power of being seen, but can this connection break him out of his performative shell, even for a lingering moment?
- Year2023
- Runtime15 minutes
- LanguageArabic, English
- DirectorFateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller
- ScreenwriterFateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller
- ProducerFarah Abdo
- CastMostafa Shaker, Guled Abdi
In an ideal world, love defines our relationships with friends and family members. But love often comes to us in unexpected moments and forms, as we experience kindness from a stranger, encouragement from a rival sibling, or attention from a new romantic interest. In this short segment, love takes many forms and it underpins stories of diaspora, longing, and relocation, demonstrating the strength of relationships between family and friends, old and new, to provide solace and support.
Grinding away at the inherited family business, Mohamed works tirelessly selling knock-off perfume, while living as a knock-off version of himself. His doting mother Marwa brings him lunch every day and sets up chay dates with potential romantic interests (and their families) seemingly every night. Inside of this monotony, Mohamed is lying to himself about his sexuality and leaning into the mask of masculinity in order to maintain the expectations of those around him, but in reality the biggest expectations of how he should be are set by himself. We follow Mohamed on a day when the monotony comes to a screeching halt—an unexpected, charming customer enters his shop. Mohamed shares a connection with this beautiful stranger who lives in self-acceptance and who truly sees him underneath the many layers of Polo Sport–adjacent cologne. In Eitr, Mohamed’s fear of his true desires will be tested as he is caught off-guard by the power of being seen, but can this connection break him out of his performative shell, even for a lingering moment?
- Year2023
- Runtime15 minutes
- LanguageArabic, English
- DirectorFateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller
- ScreenwriterFateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller
- ProducerFarah Abdo
- CastMostafa Shaker, Guled Abdi