#mashrou' leila

[ladychlo]

RADIO ROMANCE BY THE QUEER LEBANESE BAND MASHROU' LEILA.

[starburns]

mashrou' leila - cavalry

[fiercynn]

queer short film: "beirut dreams in color"

queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations. i'm featuring some of my favorite films on tumblr because why not

lebanon | 2022 | 28 minutes | documentary short audio in english & arabic; english subtitles available

beirut dreams in color, directed by michael collins, is not a happy film, but it is a beautiful and necessary one. the docu-short follows lebanese indie rock band mashrou’ leila, who have, since their inception, made their politics central to their music. their lead singer, hamed sinno, is heralded as the first openly gay rock star in the arab world, and mashrou’ leila played sold-out shows throughout the swana region (southwest asia & north africa) in the 2010s. the film weaves their story together with the tragic story of sarah hegazi, an egyptian queer activist, and with the story of helem, a lebanese lgbtq+ organization led by tarek zeidan, as their community in beirut faced a disaster in 2020. deepa's full review, including content notes at the end - highly recommend looking at the content notes

hamed sinno is on instagram @hamed.sinno. you can also read more about sarah hegazi’s legacy and the community that grieves her.

[joyejoyu]

I’m not really an animator but I wanted to test out procreate dreams w/ Gale’s voice claim 🫣

SONG: KALAAM - Mashrou’ Leila

[satin-carmin]

Anonymity is a liminal space of queer potentiality, between the invisibility we must bear to survive, and the visibility we need to live. It is where we find, heal and love each other as our ancestors have done for generations. While the world will not tell our stories, we must tell them ourselves, even behind closed doors. Outside, the writing is on the wall: we’re here. We’ve always been here. The queers will win the world.

Hamed Sinno (Mashrou' Leila) on Pride and Mourning in the Middle East, Frieze Magazine

[boycterium]

Promises and roses rhyme in Arabic

[gotinterest]

[storyteller-aprendiz]

Loumand edit FT. Mashrou' Leila

Inspired by a post I saw here once, but I can't find it.

[eman-e11]

[lostcauses-noregrets]

I just hope you know that Cardamom is easily one of my favorite fics i’ve ever read. like ever! as an arab, i was so excited to see it, and even more excited to see how you perfectly captured the most beautiful story with the most beautiful characters.

i was wondering if you had any music in mind when writing the fic, as i found myself associating it with fairuz really quickly (perhaps bc of the coffee… which i associate with mornings, which is the best time to listen to fairuz!) :)

Hello Anon, thank you so much for your kind words, and apologies for taking so long to answer your ask. I'm always deeply touched when Arab readers enjoy Cardamom and find they're able to identify with the story.

I definitely did have music in mind when I wrote Cardamom, I'm a huge fan of Lebanese music and I made a Cardamom playlist on youtube.

Fairuz really should be on there, but as you can probably tell from the playlist, the real soundtrack for Cardamom was Yasmine Hamdan and Mashrou' Leila. I've adored Yasmine Hamdan for years ever since I heard Tango by Soapkills, which is on the playlist. I was also lucky enough to see Mashrou' Leila perform in the UK twice, before the band split up. There's more than a little of Hamed Sinno, Mashrou' Leila's amazing singer, in Cardamom Levi.

There's also a subtle nod to Lebanese music in the fic, in chapter 14 Levi wears a LUMI t-shirt with the name of their song Don't fuck with my cat, and he has a poster for the 2006 Beirut Luna Park Music Festival on the wall of his flat.

I'm aware of the irony of answering this ask today at a time when Lebanon is once again suffering from Israeli aggression and horrific terrorist attacks. My heart goes out to all those who have lost their lives so senselessly over the last few days. It seems fitting to leave you with Yasmine Hamdan's hauntingly beautiful elegy for her home city, Beirut.

[whatever-letmebe]

Smell the jasmine Taste the molasses And remember to remember me Brother don't forget me My love, my prize

I would have liked to keep you near me Introduce you to my parents, have you crown my heart Cook your food, sweep Spoil your kids, be your housewife

But you're in your house, and I'm in another house God, I wish I had never let you go

Smell the jasmine And remember to forget me

[biggestfailureofthe21stcentury]

[ceeturnalia]

مشروع ليلى - راديو رومانس mashrou' leila - radio romance

[jonpertwee]

Apropos of nothing, let's all listen to some music.

Here's Cavalry by Mashrou' Leila (I love Mashrou' Leila). Queer Lebanese band (okay, half of them aren't queer, I think).

English version:

I'm usually a sucker for the original versions of non-English songs but damn do I love the English version.

[asoftenderlove]

MUSLIMS RISE!!