6. Queer Imaginaries and the Essay Film: The Cinema of Raed Rafei
This module explores the intersection of personal narrative, political critique, and experimental form through the work of Lebanese filmmaker and scholar Raed (El) Rafei. As the sixth installment in the Jaha Film Festival's Film School curriculum, it aligns with our festival's commitment to amplifying voices that challenge dominant narratives and explore complex identities within global south.
Raed (El) Rafei is a Lebanese filmmaker, film and media scholar, and multimedia journalist working across cinema, criticism, and queer cultural studies. His award-winning films have screened at international festivals and institutions including IDFA (Amsterdam), the Centre Pompidou (Paris), and the Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley). He is currently Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on queer cinema in the Arab region and its diasporas.
Module Learning Objectives
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
Formal & Aesthetic Analysis: Identify and analyze key characteristics of the essay film as practiced by Rafei, including its use of fragmented narration, archival material, and poetic juxtaposition.
Thematic Exploration: Critically engage with central themes in Rafei's work: queer utopia/dystopia, the legacies of colonialism in shaping sexuality, the politics of visibility, and the personal as geopolitical.
Contextual Understanding: Situate Rafei's films within broader contexts of queer Arab cinema and diasporic filmmaking, understanding the specific challenges and innovations of this field.
Critical Application: Develop nuanced discussion points and questions that connect filmic technique to political and social commentary, moving beyond simplistic readings.
Core Filmography for Study
This module focuses on three short essay and docufiction films that exemplify Rafei's central concerns and stylistic approach.
Queer Utopia: From Stonewall to Tell Garden: Queer temporalities, privilege, geographic dissonance. Contrasts celebratory gay rights rallies at NYC's Stonewall with quiet moments in a Tripoli public garden.
Al-Atlal (The Ruins): Colonial archives, historical erasure, homoerotic space. A visual poem sparked by a French travel book's drawing of a bathhouse, exploring the entanglement of sex and empire
SALAM: Female desire, patriarchal structures, doucufiction form. Retraces an afternoon of a Syrian woman revealing her sexual self-discovery. Based on a 6-hour interview