@kimonTwo of these are Moroccan and both landed in 2022, which is its own kind of coincidence. The Damned Don't Cry puts a mother and her son at the center, with poverty and shame pressing in around his queer identity. The Blue Caftan takes a quieter route: a married caftan-maker, a young apprentice, and emotions he'd kept buried finally rising up. Salvation Army goes back to 2013, following a young man working out who he is while his family's expectations bear down on him. Lebanon gets two entries as well. Out Loud, from 2011, trails a group of young friends through sexuality, identity, and the pressure their families apply. Caramel, 2007, sits inside a Beirut beauty salon, where one woman's attraction to another bumps against what the people around her expect her life to be. Oldest of the bunch is the Egyptian one: The Yacoubian Building, 2006, Cairo-set, taking on same-sex relationships plus the stigma and hypocrisy that come with them. Forbidden love, hidden identities, family pressure, the fight for freedom. Six films, six ways into queer life across the Arab world 🍿

@kimonTwo of these are Moroccan and both landed in 2022, which is its own kind of coincidence. The Damned Don't Cry puts a mother and her son at the center, with poverty and shame pressing in around his queer identity. The Blue Caftan takes a quieter route: a married caftan-maker, a young apprentice, and emotions he'd kept buried finally rising up. Salvation Army goes back to 2013, following a young man working out who he is while his family's expectations bear down on him. Lebanon gets two entries as well. Out Loud, from 2011, trails a group of young friends through sexuality, identity, and the pressure their families apply. Caramel, 2007, sits inside a Beirut beauty salon, where one woman's attraction to another bumps against what the people around her expect her life to be. Oldest of the bunch is the Egyptian one: The Yacoubian Building, 2006, Cairo-set, taking on same-sex relationships plus the stigma and hypocrisy that come with them. Forbidden love, hidden identities, family pressure, the fight for freedom. Six films, six ways into queer life across the Arab world 🍿