In the last few years it’s seemed like the world of filmmaking has been opening up to everyone. No longer do you need money and equipment to buy and develop film, then manually edit and do all the other relatively expensive things it used to entail. Now most people wander around with cameras in their pockets – under the guise of smartphones – that offer a picture quality that would have exceeded what even a semi-professional videographer could have managed just 20 years ago.
However there are still limitations, not least that in different parts of the world certain subjects are still completely taboo and may even be criminal. You may be wondering why I’m talking about all this. Well, Haram Queen is the first (as far as it’s possible to tell) LGBT-themed film to emanate from the Bornean nation of Brunei, something that’s only possible due to the democratisation of filmmaking.
The country has been in the news a fair amount recently due to the Sultan Of Brunei permitting the introduction of a version of Sharia law that for the first time adds the death penalty as a possible punishment for having gay sex (something that was already illegal). However that doesn’t mean there are no LGBT people, and as Abdul Zainidi’s film shows, some of them want a voice.
It’s not the most polished short film ever made, indeed it’s pretty rough around the edges. Even so it still works largely because of the power of its voice – there’s a sense of this being a shout coming from a place of both anger and confusion.
Haram Queen is in two parts. The first follows a transvestite prostitute who’s wandering the forest talking about his life and the difficulties he faces, as well as the fact that he loves to solicit sex from men. The other part follows four of his friends, who are sitting around talking about him and mourning their loss, remembering the good things about their friend and not forgetting to add a bit of bitchy camp.
While the issues they’re dealing with aren’t always 100% clear, it’s almost because you can feel the filmmaker working through them in his own mind. The main character has an anger which they know should be pointed out at others, but can’t help turning inwards at times.
He is sadness and fury, someone broken not just by the disease they know they’ve contracted but by a society that’s hurled him to the edge and to a place where he has few anchors to give him self-worth. It’s for that reason his friends are so important, the few people going through similar experiences and who share his problems.
Haram Queen is not a film of answers but it opens a lot of questions, not just about the characters but also the culture it’s emerged from. The film lacks the LGBT touchstones of most modern gay cinema – those things it knows audience will assume – seemingly because it comes from a place where those things aren’t set. For example, it isn’t sure that there’s nothing wrong with being gay, and that you shouldn’t have to feel bad about it. Here there’s still the edge of wondering if perhaps you should feel bad, not least because the characters says he is haram – proscribed by Islamic law – and his disease could be the punishment.
Considering the situation in Brunei it’s not that surprising, and it’s not that far from how the majority of gay people lived their lives in other countries that are now increasingly LGBT friendly but once vilified and criminalised queer people (and not as long ago as we sometimes like to think). That said, it did make me wonder if the characters are representative of gay people in Brunei or not. They wouldn’t be considered representative in the Western film (in fact they might be a bit controversial), but that’s not to say people like those in Haram Queen don’t exist in many countries.
It’s a brave movie and for a film full of rough edges a surprisingly powerful one. It may have helped if the script was tighter and clearer, but as a first shout for LGBT film from the Kingdom of Brunei it works.
And it’s not surprising that it’s a shout. Director/star Abdul Zainidi has suggested to us that he’s already received death threats. Brunei is currently touting its first ever big-budget commercial film, Yasmine (which, perhaps surprisingly considering the new laws and the West’s stereotypical view of Muslim nations, was directed by a woman). However it is perhaps those making movies there on the fringe who need just as big a voice.
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
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