do u know any lgbt arab movies u can recommend ?
This list is of queer middle eastern films that include queer arab films
Circumstance (2011) - film explores love and sexual rebellion between two women under the watchful eye of the government and through family dynamics in modern day Iran.
Caramel (2007) - “a beauty salon in Beirut is a safe haven for five women in this Lebanese romantic comedy. Follows the love lives of five Lebanese women, one of them is the stylist Rima who does not know how to handle her attraction to a female client.
Mondial 2010 (2014) - “is a film on love and place. A Lebanese gay couple decides to take a road trip to Ramallah. The film is recorded with their camera as they chronicle their journey. The viewers are invited through the couple’s conversations into the universe of a fading city.” In reality Lebanese cannot drive to Ramallah as they are forbidden into Israel and this plays with the significance of a same-sex relationship in the Middle East and what it means to be a queer Middle Eastern.
Lola and Billy the Kid (1999) - “Murat, the youngest son of a conservative Turkish family, is struggling with his sexuality as well as with the demands of his patriarchal older brother. When Murat meets with Lola – his estranged brother who now is a drag queen – and her macho Turkish lover, Billy the Kid, he finds himself drawn into a dangerous new world.
Oriented (2015) - feature documentary that follows the lives of three gay Palestinian friends confronting their national and sexual identity in Tel Aviv.
Fifi Howls From Happiness (2014) - “I will tell you my life story so that no idiot will write my biography the way it suits them,” says legendary gay Iranian artist Bahman Mohassess in this documentary about his life.
A Jihad For Love (2007) - feature documentary to explore the complex global intersections between Islam and homosexuality. This movie focuses on Islam in multiple regions of the world rather than just the Middle East.
Mixed Kebab (2012) - centers around a TurkisH character and talks about the struggles of being a gay poc in a conservative Muslim household in a western country and having to defy middle eastern expectations of you. Best of all, the ending is a happy one!
I Say Dust (2015) - “Two Arab-American women in New York City fall in love, argue home and identity, engage in a chess battle, and express themselves through the power of the spoken word. 'I Say Dust’ explores poetry in cinema through the story of Hal, a poet belonging to the Palestinian diaspora in NYC, who meets Moun, a free-spirited chess boards sales girl. Their brief love affair challenges their understanding of what makes home.”
Note: There are more LGBT films produced and directed by Israelis but I don’t recommend them. They pinkwash Israel’s violent acts towards Palestinians by diverting your attention and targeting the queer audience, in specific, to claims that Israel supports LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) rights.
The films usually depict a Palestinian struggling with their sexuality and their community’s rejection of their identity and a “free” Israeli that fall in love and Tel Aviv is the safe haven for their love. Basically using representation that Arabs are savage and Israelis are here to free us.
Truth is there is no rainbow bedazzled hole in the Israeli West Bank Wall that allows you a free access to ‘freedom’ if your ass is queer. When they bomb Gaza they are bombing Palestinian including queers one. Besides the fact that they are killing us, this just shows their LGBTQ rights (all their human rights) are just a show to divert your attention and this is effectively done through media including movies. This is why I do not recommend Israeli queer films depicting the Middle East.
This sign was placed on the edge of the main stage at Outside the Frame: Queers for Palestine Film Festival in San Francisco
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