Panel Discussion
How Queer is ‘Queer Cinema’ from the Middle East?
With
Syrine Boukadida, a queer feminist activist and co-founder of Mawjoudin Film Festival in Tunisia. She lives between Tunisia and Berlin. She studied psychology and works as a psychosocial counselor. Since 2019, she has been managing the LGBTIQ+ Asylum project of Mawjoudin.
Eliane Raheb is the creator and director of several award-winning short films and documentaries. Her recent work includes Sleepless Nights and Those Who Remain, winner of the prestigious Etoile de la Scam award. She is a founding member of the Beirut DC Association for Cinema and has served as artistic director of its film festival Beirut Cinema Days.
Wieland Speck is a German filmmaker, author and curator. He has been the director of the Berlinale's Panorama from 1992 to 2017. In 1987 he founded the Teddy Award, the queer film award of the Berlinale. He is also a lecturer at several institutions like DFFB, Freie Universität and Filmakademie Ludwigsburg.
Guest-Moderated by
Imad Gebrayel: Designer, Educator and Researcher
In recent years, Queer cinema has gained paramount interest and institutional support: Renomated festivals has assigned sections and awards for films labeled as “Queer” and numerous new festivals around the world were established specifically for them.
But how is “Queer Cinema” defined? Do queer films have distinct features? Are there forms of narration or certain generic conventions that make films “queer” or is it all just about featuring characters with non-normative sexual identities/orientations? What opportunities and limitations do the label “queer” entail for the spheres of funding, distribution, and reception of Middle Eastern films?