Mr. Gay Syria

Set in Istanbul and Berlin, Mr. Gay Syria follows two gay refugees as they try to rebuild their lives after fleeing the war in Syria. Husein is a 24-year-old barber who escaped to Istanbul with his parents and pregnant wife. Mahmoud is the founder of Syria’s LGBTI movement and a refugee in Germany. He works part time at a NGO helping gay asylum seekers.

What brings them together is a crazy dream: joining the international beauty contest called Mr. Gay World, hosted in Malta. If they manage, it will be the first time an Arab man from the Middle East attends such a public event. For Husein, this is a potential escape to Europe. He yearns to live in a society that accepts him. For Mahmoud, as a gay rights defender, this is the place to generate visibility and launch a campaign for Syrian gay refugees.

While Mr. Gay Syria follows the journey of the two characters and their friends, the beauty contest becomes a thread that weaves together the difficulties of being gay in homophobic societies, the challenges of coming out, the joy of falling in love and the devastating migration crisis.