Fourteen centuries after the revelation of the holy Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islam today is the world's second largest and fastest growing religion. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma travels the many worlds of this dynamic faith discovering the stories of its most unlikely storytellers: lesbian and gay Muslims. Filmed over 5 1/2 years, in 12 countries and 9 languages, "A Jihad for Love" comes from the heart of Islam. Looking beyond a hostile and war-torn present, this film seeks to reclaim the Islamic concept of a greater Jihad, which can mean 'an inner struggle' or 'to strive in the path of God'. In doing so the film and its remarkable subjects move beyond the narrow concept of 'Jihad' as holy war

Khaled, a Syrian worker earns his living in old town Beirut. He was born transvestite. Ever since he suffered of his sexual identity. Yet, he has determined to change his sex by a surgery which allows him to become a woman. This film enters into Khaled's intimate world, daily struggle and damages that inflict him in an intolerant society.

Observatory Archives 1999

/ CONTEXT 1994 - 2020

Observatory Archives 1999

The theme of OVNI 1999 is the journey that goes from the social to the private and vice versa, with the understanding that they are part of the same continuous fabric. Memory/Collective Fiction. Dreams/Personal Memories. Standards and archetypes and individual irreducibility. Media paranoia and stories of schizophrenia. Social passions and love stories. The “American dream”, the “European dream”. Temporary Autonomous Zones and Other Worlds.

Thematical screenings

Hall and Auditorium.  Simultaneous Screenings

Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona

Montalegre 5. 08001 Barcelona

A exploration of sexuality among gay men in Lebanon. Five characters talk about their sexuality, about commitments, about their relationship to their bodies, about their passions and love in a society where homosexuality is still punished with imprisonment. The video uses light to produce a white veil, rendering almost impossible character identification.