As a young queer man, Raed El Rafei lived his life in shadow and fear in Tripoli, the city he was born in. But that never stopped him loving it, even after he had to leave it. When he returns to the place that so blazingly rejected him, he takes his camera and an open mind, in search of the soul of Tripoli and his people.
This multifaceted documentary is built from a string of video portraits of the people he meets and the things he sees. Sometimes he interviews his characters or lets them discuss ethical, religious or political topics between them. Sometimes he merely observes them and paints poetic pictures of faces, objects, trees and buildings. Sometimes music accompanies the images – those of him as a young, vibrant, sensual man in Tripoli. Sometimes the silence, or the buzz of the city says it all.
The short but incredibly meaningful observations of Tripoli’s more conservative inhabitants – the ones he meets in squares, restaurants and parks – are paired with more in-depth portraits of people who, like himself, are both ‘native and an outsider’ – the ones who don’t fit in because of the way they look, their sexual orientation, gender or political convictions. Through his patient lens, sincere questions and respectful approach, he succeeds in letting people open up to him. They freely talk about their feelings, fears, dreams and disappointments. They show him and us who they really are, without any inhibition and without holding back.
Through all of these encounters, you also get a strong sense of the dire economic and political state Tripoli is in – people are suffering, even the ones that are not being rejected because of who they are or would like to be.
The beauty of the documentary lies in the completely unbiased way El Rafei looks at everything and everyone he points his camera at. Or maybe it is even more than open-mindedness – he truly loves whatever and whoever he sees and tries to understand. Even when people are raging against homosexuality, it does not feel like he condemns them. He just focuses on them, it feels like the camera is trying to get inside of their heads, looking for clues and connections.
The interviews are insightful but the silent observations are even more powerful. The dancer who moves through and on top of buildings bathing in orange light, in her black dress, with her make-up and piercings; the lovingly filmed shots of groups of men hanging out together in parks, watching a game, dancing, making music – they might be gay, they could be gay.
Tripoli – A Tale of Three Cities celebrates this enigmatic place and its people with an open mind and through a loving, compassionate lens, with nostalgia but also hope for the future, and with an exceptional eye for detail and the humanity in everyone.
Especially in these current times of polarisation, conflict, hate and prejudice, it is an extraordinary example of what humans are capable of, if we just let them, despite what life throws at them.
88 mins, Lebanon, 2024 Director
Director Raed El Rafei
Production Raed El Rafei for Anwar Film
Executive producer Raed El Rafei for Anwar Film, Eliane Raheb
Cinematography Jocelyne Abi Gebrayel
Editing Raed El Rafei
Sound Design Lama Sawaya
World Sales Filmotor
Screening copy the postoffice
