Based on his own romantic diary and many conversations with Egyptian friends, in his multilayered essay film Mohammad Shawky Hassan describes the experiences of queer Arab men – their desires, jealousy and polyamory. A narrator based on Scheherezade, played by Egyptian singer Donia Massoud, serves as a common thread. In constructing it in this way, Hassan draws on a form of storytelling reminiscent of “One Thousand and One Nights” but places this tradition in a tongue-in-cheek pop-cultural context. A colorful collage full of original ideas and visual surprises is created in a mix of animation, green screen tableaus and quotes from TV series and music videos.
Kristian Petersen