A TRIP THROUGH THREE TRIPOLIS, WITH A QUEER LENS

by Adam Arthur
Cover image: Promotional materials for A Tale of Three Cities

Tripoli: A Tale of Three Cities, co-sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh’s Asian Studies Center, was shown at Carnegie Mellon University as the grand finale to the Backyard Docs Film Festival, concluding the month of September. The documentary, consisting of interviews with numerous individuals and groups, works as a reflective piece engaging viewers who have moved to reflect on their relationship(s) to where they were once from. With the film’s focus on queer expression, it proves particularly poignant for individuals who have both escaped and been shaped by repressive settings.

The film is a pun on the name of Tripoli, Lebanon. The name of Tripoli itself means “three cities” in Ancient Greek. As such, filmmaker Raed Rafei explores three layers of Tripoli. One is the mainstream, macho, conservative culture he is surrounded by. This is, however, only the very surface of Tripoli’s society.

The second layer explored is Tripoli’s queer underground, the portrayal of which dispels the popular western notion of West Asia (including the Middle East) as a particularly dangerous or inevitably lethal locale for queer residents and travelers.

The third layer consists of interviews with the city of Tripoli’s artists as well as its political activists. The latter include Communists seeking massive systemic reform as well as still passionate but less committed critics of Lebanon’s various economic downturns.

The highlights of Raed Rafei’s s film include its exploration of everyday homophobia. Rafei speaks to a gym manager, an all-male discussion circle, and a pair of women talking about (implicitly heteronormative) love. When Rafei brings up male-male relationships, the topic is met with shock, disgust, and even philosophical rationalization for homophobia. What is telling, however, is that Rafei can bring these themes up, and the pushback he is met with is societal in nature, not legal. This extends further to Rafei’s interview with a drag queen living in Tripoli, an individual who maintains a positive relationship with their family and general freedom of expression despite societal pushback.

What western viewers will get out of this, hopefully, is an understanding that while homophobia does exist in the Middle East, it often takes on familiar forms not uncommon in conservative American communities. Westerners who decry Middle Eastern homophobia as unique might, in fact, find it recognizable. Much like in conservative American communities, there are individuals, such as drag performers or queer activists, who push back or ask uncomfortable questions about queer visibility, liberation, and rights. This is decidedly the most pointed and interesting aspect of Raed Rafei’s film.

The film struggles to fully historically contextualize some of the larger economic situation in Lebanon, however, in its third act. While it’s hard to completely achieve that in an 88-minute film, the activism highlighted in the third act has historical precedent behind it that would that would require more context than this film gives it. This act explores the third and last “layer” of Tripoli: the city’s culture of activism. Some of that activism is high-minded and radical in concept and some of that activism is focused more on the practical concerns of where any given resident’s next meal might come from. The interviews in this portion of the film serve to provide essential contrasts to Rafei’s individual perspective.

A persistent question Rafei asks throughout the film: While you can easily love your home and love where you are from, what does “home” mean when its dominant culture has rejected you for who you are? Raefi asks this question in a way that centers on the city of Tripoli, Lebanon. But it is one that many audience members, especially those who have moved somewhere distant from their origins, might ask themselves.

Adam Arthur holds a graduate degree from Florida State University. He is the author of two poetry collections, Levers of Power and Sound and Substance.  A transplant to Pittsburgh, he has lived in the area for three years and takes inspiration from his surroundings in his written work.

This month’s articles are produced with support from the Frick Pittsburgh in conjunction with their landmark exhibition The Scandinavian Home: Landscape and Lore. Get cozy as the seasons change with David and Susan Warner’s collection of paintings, tapestries, and sculptures from around the Nordic region. Tickets now on sale.