Four short films say thank you for the music
I’ll be honest: I don’t really know how to write about the importance music has to me without it being incredibly trite, so this will be a short intro. I’m one of those people who fills my brain with music constantly to keep it from getting too quiet, and music has also been very important to my relationships, whether with family, friends, romantic partners, or larger communities. This week’s films similarly cover a mix of the ways music creates connection – from queer folks united in protest, to music as an expression of our identities, and of course, to song as a voice for our love.
“One good song can do more than 5,000 protests.”
Beirut Dreams In Color, directed by Michael Collins and produced by The Guardian, has a sense of dread running through the entire film. It’s the kind of dread that’s born of knowing the vulnerability of queer and trans lives, the myriad of threats so many – especially those fighting for our rights – face from homophobic systems and state violence. It’s also the dread of knowing that queer communities can be shattered, displaced, and distanced from each other in the wake of catastrophe and loss.
This is not a happy film, but it is a beautiful and necessary one. The docu-short follows Lebanese indie rock band Mashrou’ Leila, who have, since their inception, made their politics central to their music. Their lead singer, Hamed Sinno, is heralded as the first openly gay rock star in the Arab world, and Mashrou’ Leila played sold-out shows throughout the SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) region in the 2010s. The film weaves their story together with the tragic story of Sarah Hegazi, an Egyptian queer activist, and with the story of Helem, a Lebanese LGBTQ+ organization led by Tarek Zeidan, as their community in Beirut faced a disaster in 2020.
There are no easy takeaways from me after watching Beirut Dreams In Color; I’m left with sorrow and anger, and also feeling the impact of Mashrou’ Leila’s incredible music, the way that art can both touch us deeply on a personal level and have power to influence change. Real life didn’t have easy answers for the band either: they split in 2022 after more than a decade of homophobic harassment and threats. Sometimes, the harm we face and see means that we need to sit in our grief and fury for a while before we can pick up again.
Beirut Dreams In Color
“Songs, they tell about you.”
Room 2740, directed by Harun Güler, is an intimate, spare portrait of Kübra Uzun, a trans singer, artist, and DJ, set in an Istanbul hotel room. The film is part of a series directed by Güler called “Maqam”, which refers to a system of melody types in Turkish classical music. Güler said in an interview that Uzun herself, a friend of his, was the inspiration for the film. “I focused during my studies on gender performativity, and I always try to challenge binary stereotype. I came to her with the maqam idea and she selected a couple songs an decided to sing this one.” Uzun’s incredible voice and performance drive the film, leaving an impact even after just a few minutes.
Room 2740
From students at the French animation school Isart Digital, Tentatrice, directed by Kristen Boisnier, Rachel Casassus, Léa Peirano, Joana Sacco, Marine Saillard, Bertrand Sanabria, and Marion Torcheux, is about music as seduction. Set in 1920s Chicago, Myrtille works as a cleaner at a cabaret, where she is enthralled by their star singer. But the beautiful performer is not who she seems to be. The animation is gorgeous, but appropriately, the tone of the film is set by the the tense, eerie score and sound design by Corentin Brasart, Benjamin Buzzi, and Aloïs Durupt.
Tentatrice
“When you fall in love, son, the feeling, right here in your chest? It’ll be so special that nothing will stop you from wanting to sing.”
La Serenata | The Serenade, written by Ernesto Javier Martínez and directed by Adelina Anthony, is based on Martínez’s bilingual children’s book Cuando Amamos Cantamos | When We Love Someone We Sing to Them. Luis (Malik Quetzalcoatl Cano), a young boy, announces to his parents (Marlene Beltran Cuauhtin and Daniel Penillo) that he is in love and wants to follow their family’s Mexican tradition of serenading the object of his affections. But his parents are caught off-guard when they realize that his love is for another boy.
You may remember director Adelina Anthony as the creator of Amigas With Benefits (recommended by me here). Both films are unabashedly direct about their messages about queerness and love, and all the more heartwarming for it. In La Serenata, music becomes the voice for Luis’s love for his best friend, but also for his parents’ deep and powerful love for him, even when faced with unexpected situations that they must help their child navigate.
La Serenata | The Serenade
