A Beirut rooftop conversation about living with Sexually Transmitted Infections opens into a cinematic dialogue, as Danielle and Moe draw raw and vibrant images from their personal experiences. Danielle filmed herself in sober and melancholic images to grasp what is going on, while Moe plays with memories and sensations of a queer body “invaded” by a virus. While they engage with five actresses and actors to embody the testimonies of individuals who also lived with STIs, “forbidden” stories begin to exist and enter a collaborative exploration of intimacy, bodies, stigma and shame.

Danielle Davie is a Beirut-based filmmaker, director of the School of Cinema (ALBA-UOB) in Lebanon, and co-founder of the collective Rawiyat-Sisters in Film. Holding a PhD in documentary and anthropological cinema, she focuses on collaborative and personal film projects that challenge dominant narratives.

Mohamad "Moe" Sabbah is a Cologne-based Lebanese filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist whose work explores grief, shame, and body representation through a queer lens. A graduate of Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln and recipient of Cologne’s Chargesheimer-Stipendium, his practice spans film, performance, installation, and music.

Together, Davie and Sabbah co-directed the hybrid documentary feature Embodied Chorus, which premiered at IDFA 2023.

(Embodied Chorus) لن تتركنا الطيور

Danielle Davie & Mohamad Moe Sabbah, Lebanon - Germany - Luxembourg,, 2023,  72 mins. Hybrid Documentary, English, French & Arabic with English subtitles