Ex Imam, Shikha Thouraya decides to become a woman and break with her previous masculine identity.

Shikha Thouraya

In the 19th-century Levant, Salma Zahore joins her family and neighbors for a long-exposure photoshoot. As the camera captures time itself, she removes her coat, revealing her body. The gesture, innocent yet daring, stirs chaos within her community—unbeknownst to Salma, it becomes an act marked by shame (عيب).

SHAME

A folkloric and popular character at the June festivities in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil, Gorete Canivete lives with the conflict between HE and SHE in the popular market where he works. Black, poor and semi-illiterate, Gregorio or Gorete, is 59 years old and reflects on prejudice and happiness while preparing to celebrate his birthday among his co-workers, who welcome him regardless of his gender.

The Gorete Canivete

This deeply personal, almost autobiographical film confronts family taboos that haunted the director across cultures. Created as a graduation short, it became a way to understand and love his family despite moral distance. Still in progress, it aims to fill the silence around queerness in Middle Eastern cinema — a message to those who feel alone.

Due To Love

The film follows Lana Diamond, a transgender woman from a Muslim family in Lebanon. Set between Berlin’s subways and her apartment, Lana reflects on her love for dance, her childhood, and her struggle for identity and acceptance. Remembering loneliness during the war in Ukraine, she now moves freely—dancing with a trans flag, grateful to finally be herself.

Underneath The Veil

In a village in Kurdistan, an old mother is waiting for her son to return from military service. After a long absent, the mother tries to find him but she discovers a secret which pushes her in a dilemma to deal with her Son identity.

Ex football player Kyial tells a story ofher first romance with Football, the game. She tells her feelings looking at the camera, about what it was to date with “her” (football). She tells all the difficulties she had to go through and all the good moments between them, which happened in all first relationships (criticism from relatives, acceptance of one's own

My love lives on the field

As her wedding day approaches, Cantika (21) sets out to find her estranged biological father, only to uncover a shocking truth: her father, long kept hidden by her late mother, has transitioned into a woman named Dewi (41). As Cantika and Dewi navigate the complexities of their past and present, they must confront deep-seated wounds and attempt to rebuild a relationship fractured by time and secrets.

Her Guardian

Unraveling Roots

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JAHA Film Festival celebrates trans, intersex & nonbinary filmmakers from the Global South. We reclaim our stories & amplify our voices through cinema, centering Palestinian liberation as intrinsic to collective freedom. A radical, joyful act of resistance.

Here's what's coming up soon. Can't make it? No sweat. Many live streams will be available for on-demand viewing as well.