Lebanon has always been regarded as a haven for freedom in the Arab region and is considered the most liberal Arab country. Viewers can learn a lot about Lebanon society and politics from queer films, El Rafei said. He also made a film about transnational gay love story Here I am … Here you are, which was screen at the San Francisco Arab Film Festival. He made the hybrid film (combining documentary and fiction) 74 (The Reconstitution of a Struggle) about the 1974 student occupation of the American University in Beiruit.
He plans to show how queer Lebanese artists like himself have developed their own unique perspective that simultaneously adopts, contests and reimagines western references.Įl Rafaei worked many years as a journalist, contributing to CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Al-Jazeera and more. Raed El Rafei (film and digital media) and Christian David Alvarado (history of consciousness) will receive a $35,000 stipend plus $3,000 for research and up to $5,000 for tuition and university fees.Įl Rafaei is examining queer movies made by artists from Lebanon and the diaspora.
Two UC Santa Cruz doctoral students have been named Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Completion Fellows.