| The Wedding | |
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| Directed by | Sam Abbas |
| Written by | Sam Abbas |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Shane Ainsworth |
| Edited by | Sam Abbas |
Production companies |
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| Country | United States |
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The Wedding is a 2018 film directed by Sam Abbas and starring Nikohl Boosheri, Sam Abbas, Harry Aspinwall, James Penfold, and Hend Ayoub.
In August 2017, it was announced Nikohl Boosheri, Sam Abbas, Harry Aspinwall, James Penfold and Send Ayoub joined the cast of the film, with Sam Abbas directing the film from a screenplay he wrote. Neal Kumar, Casey Hartnett, Abbas, and Kyleigh Johnson would produce. [1] The Wedding was announced during the Berlin Film Festival as the first title of ArabQ Films. [2] [3]
The film's trailer was released exclusively via The Hollywood Reporter on August 25, 2018. [4] HuffPost called the film "The Queer Movie That Could Make Waves In The Middle East". [5] Raseef, an Egyptian newspaper, said the film would "cause fuss in theaters". [6]
The film had a secret work-in-progress screening in Egypt in August 2018. [7] Screenings in the Middle East started in November 2018, and were done in select theaters and by invitation. [8] [9] [10]
Variety gave the film a negative review, calling it "dull" and saying it lacked originality. Additionally, they questioned whether it could be categorized as Egyptian, since the film's story and characters were so removed from Egypt and Egyptian society. [11] Similarly, The Hollywood Reporter criticized the movie's execution, calling it "more a muted relationship drama than a timely exploration of clashing sexual and religious values". [12]
The Celluloid Closet is a 1996 American documentary film directed and co-written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, and executive produced by Howard Rosenman. The film is based on Vito Russo's 1981 book The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies, and on lecture and film clip presentations he gave from 1972 to 1982. Russo had researched the history of how motion pictures, especially Hollywood films, had portrayed gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters.
Jenni Olson is a writer, archivist, historian, consultant, and non-fiction filmmaker based in Berkeley, California. She co-founded the pioneering LGBT website PlanetOut.com. Her two feature-length essay films — The Joy of Life (2005) and The Royal Road (2015) — premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her work as an experimental filmmaker and her expansive personal collection of LGBTQ film prints and memorabilia were acquired in April 2020 by the Harvard Film Archive, and her reflection on the last 30 years of LGBT film history was published as a chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Queer Cinema from Oxford University Press in 2021. In 2020, she was named to the Out Magazine Out 100 list. In 2021, she was recognized with the prestigious Special TEDDY Award at the Berlin Film Festival. She also campaigned to have a barrier erected on the Golden Gate Bridge to prevent suicides.
Arab cinema or Arabic cinema refers to the film industry of the Arab world. Most productions are from the Egyptian cinema. Currently, the Middle East's largest cinema chain is Vox, owned by UAE-based Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas.
The Iris Prize, established in 2007 by Berwyn Rowlands of The Festivals Company, is an international LGBTQ film prize and festival which is open to any film which is by, for, about or of interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex audiences and which must have been completed within two years of the prize deadline.
The Queer Lion is the trophy awarded yearly since 2007 to the “Best Movie with LGBT Themes & Queer Culture” among those presented during the Venice International Film Festival.
Jeffrey Friedman is an American filmmaker. In 2021, he and Rob Epstein won a Grammy Award for their work on the documentary film Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Circumstance is a 2011 French-Iranian-American dramatic film written and directed by Maryam Keshavarz starring Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai and Keon Alexander. It explores homosexuality in modern Iran, among other subjects.
Nikohl Boosheri is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Adena El-Amin on Freeform's The Bold Type.
Innocence of Muslims is a 2012 anti-Islamic short film that was written and produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. Two versions of the 14-minute video were uploaded to YouTube in July 2012, under the titles "The Real Life of Muhammad" and "Muhammad Movie Trailer". Videos dubbed in Arabic were uploaded during early September 2012. Anti-Islamic content had been added in post-production by dubbing, without the actors' knowledge.
Farah Goes Bang is a 2013 American road-trip comedy directed by Meera Menon, and written by Menon and Laura Goode. The film was produced by Goode, Erica Fishman, Danielle Firoozi, and Liz Singh. The film was Menon's feature film debut and premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival where it won The Nora Ephron Prize. The film was picked up for distribution by Seed&Spark, and received a VOD release in April 2015.
Sam Abbas is an Egyptian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is noted for his artfully composed, poetic, and incident-light tableaus film style.
The Thing About Harry is a 2020 American romantic comedy television film. Written by Peter Paige and Josh Senter and directed by Paige, the film follows Sam, a young gay man who is reunited with his former high school bully Harry in adulthood, only for the two men to become friends and fall in love after Harry reveals that he now identifies as pansexual. The film also features Britt Baron and Karamo Brown, as well as Paige himself, in supporting roles.
Alia's Birth is a 2021 independent drama film by Sam Abbas starring Poorna Jagannathan, Nikohl Boosheri, Maya Kazan, and Samuel H. Levine.
Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen. It examines the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, the second installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, and the life of the film's lead actor, Mark Patton. In particular, Freddy's Revenge has garnered a reputation for its homoerotic themes and subject material, which affected Patton, who was closeted at the time of the film's production.
Erēmīta (Anthologies) is an arthouse documentary anthology featuring short films composed during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The anthology curated by Sam Abbas interweaves the literature of Friedrich Nietzsche.
Harry M. Benshoff is an associate professor of TV, film and radio at the University of North Texas (UNT).