Out In The Dark

Psychology student Nimr from Ramallah and his new friend Roy, a lawyer from Tel Aviv, are in seventh heaven. But soon, intolerance and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict disturbs their dreams. Exciting film debut that goes far beyond the character of a politically engaged gay movie.

Nimr, a Palestinian psychology student from Ramallah, dreams about one day going to the prestigious Princeton university in the United States. During one of his illegal cross-border escapades to Tel Aviv he meets Israeli lawyer Roy and falls in love head-over-heels. As his relationship with Roy develops, Nimr is confronted with the tough reality of gay men living in Palestina. His family rejects him because of his sexual orientation and he fears for his life in his own country. Yet Israel, too, represents a threat, since he is persecuted for his origins there. Nimr’s life takes a dramatic turn when a gay friend who fled to Tel Aviv is arrested by the secret police and escorted back to Ramallah, where he is cold-bloodedly killed by his fellow-countrymen. Nimr has to relinquish his dreams for the future at the benefit of survival strategies.

In his first feature film, director Michael Mayer proves himself to be an excellent storyteller. Out in the Dark is a poignant story about love, rejection, cultural identity, sacrifice and the deathly dilemmas associated with them.

Last year, the Movies that Matter Festival screened The Invisible Man by Yariv Moser, a documentary about the position of homosexual Palestinians.