Shorts Program

It’s not often that we get to see queer stories from the Middle East and North Africa represented on the big screen. This short film program brings together narratives from across cultures, faiths, and borders in one glorious, unified refrain of love, bravery, defiance of the odds, and finding support through struggle.

_Content warnings: Transphobia, homophobia, gender dysphoria, institutionalization, racism, fetishization, explosion trauma_

• Curated by our MENA team

Tickets for this special screening are $15. No Brattle passes accepted.

Black Dog

Ege and Berk are introduced by Rana. These two men, who are as different as Batman and the Joker from each other, sleep together the night they meet. Ege learns the details of Berk’s trauma and depression: Black Dog. When everything is going well, Ege tells Berk that he loves him. Thereupon, Berk decides not to meet with Ege.
Directed by Fırat Uran • 24 m • Turkish • Turkey

The Window

A year after Beirut’s port explosion, Basma and Mariam reunite in their old bedroom. Surrounded by a view of the port’s remains, the two women attempt to resolve their shared trauma and broken relationship.
Directed by Sarah Kaskas • 16 m • Arabic • Lebanon

Adjustment

The nine year-old effeminate boy, Shahrokh, humiliated and pushed away by his family and friends makes up his mind to adjust himself to his new identity and comes out to the people of his village. Having been through a variety of ordeal, Shahrokh, dressed in girl’s clothes, shows up in the class before his classmates. CONTENT WARNING: TRANSPHOBIA
Directed by Mehrdad Hasani • 17 m • Farsi • Iran

One Like Him

A Jordanian man (Karim) must find a way to tell his childhood friend and first love (Ramzi) the truth about what happened twenty years ago, when a single moment changed both their lives. When he can’t find the words, the conversation repeats, becoming increasingly surreal until he loses control.
Directed by Caitlin McLeod • 15 m • Arabic • UK, Jordan

Shams

Eden, a 30-year-old Belgian woman, works in a cultural center a few thousand kilometers away from her home, in the bustling capital of Cairo. She makes a life-changing encounter with a young woman named Shams. One day, Shams brutally disappears. With the support and friendship of two valiant young Egyptians, Eden starts a fight against her own fears, denials and bias to find Shams. CONTENT WARNING: IMAGES OF PYSCHATRIC HOSPITAL CARE
Directed by Pauline Beugnies • 24 m • French, English, Arabic • Egypt

Warsha

A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom.
Directed by “Dania Bdeir ” • 15 m • Arabic • Lebanon