Filmmaker Statement

Making this film has played a big part in my journey of accepting my Queer identity. Following Mohamed as he sheds his layers of gender performance has helped me be more honest with myself, what masks I wear and who I truly am underneath. Using the structure and style of the Ramadan Soap Operas of the 90s and early 2000s that I grew up on, I aim to subvert the expectations of the genre and centre Queer Liberation in this nostalgic form. Using comedy to bring levity to the intersectional identity crisis of being a Queer Muslim, I aim to focus on Queer Joy through Mohamed's narrative arc. Obviously cultural conflicts can exist inside of the experience of embracing Queerness as a SWANA person, but through this project I wanted to de-centre the struggle and strife narrative and instead find celebration in the Arab Soap Opera's flair for the dramatic and in one man's journey to embrace his fullest self. In EITR we see how Mohamed's culture both conflicts with and embraces his true self in d