Mr. Gay Syria

Mr Gay Syria
dir.Ayse Toprak/Turkey, France, Germany/2017/84 min
place
date
time

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.

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  • projection time:
    84 min
  • country/year:
    Turkey, France, Germany/2017
  • director:
  • pictures:
    Hajo Schomerus, Anne Misselwitz
  • production:
    Les Filmes d'Antoine, Toprak Film, Coin Film
  • selected festivals and awards:
    2017 – IDFA Amsterdam, 2017 – Sheffield Doc/Fest, 2017 – Paris Gay and Lesbian FF: Grand Prix Documentary

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