Sometimes I Wish I Was On a Desert Island (1st Place Jury Award 5-20 Minutes)

As the world learns to live again in the midst of the pandemic, for many Arabic-speaking LGBTQ+ people living in Montreal, this is just a period of time like any other. When you’ve fled homophobic violence in your home country and endured a painful migratory journey, or you still face social prejudices stemming from intercultural and intergenerational conflicts, surviving social isolation is nothing new.

Director: Eli Jean Tahchi
Length: 10:41
Country: Canada
Language: Various
Year: 2020

Additional Info

Director Biography: Lebanese-born screenwriter and director Eli Jean Tahchi makes films that are engaged, hard‑hitting, metaphorically rich and profoundly human. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in film production from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts. In 2011, he moved to Quebec to study film at the Université de Montréal, then at INIS, in the mixed program funded by Netflix. He has since worked in multiple genres, producing award-winning works that are culturally diverse and screen at festivals worldwide.

Producer: Pierre-Mathieu Fortin
Writer: Eli Jean Tahchi
Cast: Adam Khatra, Hany Shokair, Andrew Khoury