Interwoven
- Sun, Apr 6
Run Time: 89 min.
Queer Muslim & SWANA Voices • Short Film Program
A diverse tapestry of queer Muslim, Arab, and SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) stories – from crossdressers in the 1920’s Ottoman Empire to diasporic pursuits of the American Dream today, here’s a collection of the multifaceted identities we weave and wear.
Brattle Passes Not Accepted
Neo Nahda
2023 • May Ziade • 12 min • UK • English and Arabic with English subtitles
Mona, a young woman in London, finds archived photographs of Arab women cross-dressing in the 1920s. Somewhere between her fantasies and reality, she starts a feverish journey of uncovering lost histories and her own identity.
All the Men I met but never dated
2024 • Muneeb Hassan • 11 min • USA • Urdu and English with English subtitles
The closet is Ali’s refuge, but it’s a prison for Oliver – can love break through?
Circle
2024 • Ferhat Ertan • 9 min • Turkey • Turkish with English subtitles
The chador brought to the tailor’s shop will confront Arif with his own reality once more.
Shame
Hadi Moussaly • 5 min • Lebanon • Arabic with English subtitles
In the 19th century, in the Levant region, Salma Zahore, along with her parents and neighbors, participated in a photoshoot using a long exposure technique. At the end of it, Salma decided to take off her coat, revealing her body. Unaware of the chaos this gesture could cause within her circle, she did not know it could lead to shame (عيب).
Elijah
2024 • Razid Season • 19 min • USA • Bengali with English subtitles
Haider, a Bengali Muslim taxi driver faces the reality that the American Dream may never be his. Grueling hours, rude customers, a collapse in medallion values and suicides among fellow drivers continually chip away at his hope for the future. Under this backdrop, crisis spills into his family life as his daughter, Shoshi, is consumed by her own struggle, a desire to live life fully as man in a trans-phobic immigrant culture. While Haider had never been knowledgeable or supportive of LGBTQ rights and issues, starts to change as he does not want to lose his only child, whom he loves more than life itself.
Malfouf
Omar AlQahtani • 12 min • USA • English
Henan, ingrained in her ways, confronts her repressed desires when she meets a queer weaving instructor.
Hi Mom, It’s Me Lou Lou
2024 • Atakan YILMAZ • 21 min • Turkey • Turkish with English subtitles
Hakkı, a university student earning his keep through Drag Queen performances in Istanbul, is jolted by the news of his mother’s passing one night. Concealing his sexual orientation from all but his late mother, he returns to the family home after three years, confronting the weighty expectations of being the only male offspring and his relatives’ ignorance. In his childhood room, poignant discoveries await: a vibrant sweater begun by his mother, a stash of cash, and a clandestine photograph capturing a shared moment during her covert visit. Despite grappling with guilt over his mother’s demise and his father’s aloofness,this journey catalyzes his journey towards self-acceptance.
