Co-presented with Leslie Lohman Museum of Art. Filmmaker Raed (El) Rafei will be in conversation with artist Sinan Tuncay following the screening.

Doors 7:00p
Program 7:30p
Tickets $12

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

We’re thrilled to invite you to join UnionDocs and our friends from the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art for a screening of Raed Rafei’s Tripoli / A Tale of Three Cities, which premiered at IDFA in 2024 to an outpouring of praise. After the screening, Raed will be in conversation with multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Sinan Tuncay, whose work is on view at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art through April 12. 

Tripoli / A Tale of Three Cities tells the story of a queer filmmaker’s homecoming to Tripoli, Lebanon, a place where he’d previously been cast to the margins. Against the backdrop of revolutionary limbo and economic crisis, he sets out to find the people and beliefs that shape the city’s evolving identity. 

The resulting film is made up of strung-together portraits framed by Rafei’s curious and patient eye. Whether brief or extended, his interactions fill up with meaning, opening space for politics and identity to be discussed openly and for dreams and fears to be held. 

As he moves through the city, he’s also drawn towards the quiet, more poetic encounters that frame his path, like anonymous passerbys, the built environment, and its ephemera. 

In his searching attempt to understand a home marked by personal and political complexity, he weaves together a loving portrait of a place that is both familiar and estranged. 

Business Doc Europe writes, “Tripoli / A Tale of Three Cities celebrates this enigmatic place and its people with an open mind and through a loving, compassionate lens, with nostalgia but also hope for the future, and with an exceptional eye for detail and the humanity in everyone.”

Since premiering at IDFA, the world’s largest documentary film festival, Tripoli / A Tale of Three Cities has gone on to screen at queer film festivals internationally, like Queer Lisboa (Lisbon), Xposed (Berlin) and Mix Milan (Italy).

We’re thrilled to have Raed with us for the screening and to welcome multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Sinan Tuncay, who will lead the post-screening discussion. 

Sinan’s work is on view at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art as part of Soft Spaces, a series of installations featuring works by alumni of the Museum’s Fellowship program, curated by Chloe Ming, Assistant Curator / Exhibitions Manager. The exhibitions unfold over time, presenting works spanning digital art, painting, photography, filmmaking, performance, and installation by more than three dozen artists. Together, the works respond to the ever-changing landscape of LGBTQIA+ experience, informed by queer and trans histories, liberatory frameworks, and reclamations of identity.

Come through for a night you won’t want to miss!

Program

Tripoli / A Tale of Three Cities by Raed Rafei

88 mins, 2024, Lebanon.

A queer director returns to Tripoli, Lebanon to confront a hometown that once rejected him. He interviews the city’s inhabitants about their cultural and social beliefs and their embrace of new ideas. This contemplative urban symphony paints a picture of a city trapped in a self-spun web, paralyzed by a deep economic crisis, a faltering revolution, and a looming doomsday.

Program Duration: 88 mins