ÃH
Director：Alex El Dahdah
Screenwriter：Alex El Dahdah
Cast：Alex El Dahdah, Nadra Assaf, William Okaily, Teresa Kristi Abboud
Producer：Alex El Dahdah, Roody Madi
Cinematographer：Taline Bedikian
Running Time：15min
Region：Lebanon (Middle East)
Year：2020
Language：Lebanese Arabic
Production Company：Lebanese American University (Student Film)
SYNOPSIS
Malek, a young man born into a Lebanese feudalist family, is living a secret love story with the man of his dreams. Facing fierce opposition from the matriarch landowner of the family, Malek strives to hold onto his own identity. Her disapproval and determination to maintain “our dynasty” effectively destroy the relationship. The hopes, fears, longings, and desires of Malek and his lover unfold in a surrealist tale of frustrated love.
Director Biography
Alex El Dahdah is a filmmaker and performer currently based in the Bay Area. His most known work is ÃH (2020), an award-winning short film he directed and performed in. He has also participated in several works as a performer and production designer and worked in the field of marketing as a digital producer and content writer. After a year of working in an office, he decided to focus more on his art practice and explore other mediums by enrolling in the graduate studio arts program at the San Francisco Art Institute. His work is always self-reflective and personal and focuses on themes of ancestry, queerness, identity, and guilt.
Director's Statement
Lebanese family, it wasn’t a surprise to me to be rejected for my sexuality. After my relative discovered my relationship and shamed me for it, I felt I had to hide it from the rest of my family. The frustration of keeping it secret was so intense that it started to feel as if I was emotionally imploding. My life became a dichotomy between the bliss I felt with my lover and the despair and denial I went through when I was at home.The nature of my story and the chain of events that unfolded made it natural for me to situate the plot in the 1950s. In my village, people still live in their memory in the feudalist system, and my family explicitly still holds tight onto what they would call “the honor of our dynasty.” It sometimes makes me feel that I, myself, born in 1998, am trapped in the 1950s.This film is an experimental blend of surrealism and historical drama, offering a message of both love and acceptance. Malek, my alter ego, sublimated his pain through his dreams, and I have sublimated my passion through this film.
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