The landscape reminds one
of Southern California. The story, if it
was read to you as a simple synopsis (leaving out a couple of crucial details),
could also be centered in So Cal … a gay man outcast from his family, boyhood
friends dealing with hardship that range from drug-dealing family members to
unrequited love.
However, in
writer/director Samer Daboul’s Out Loud, due on DVD from Arizitcal
Entertainment this coming Jan. 14, his cast members are not walking the streets
of Los Angeles or enjoying the rugged mountains of Big Bear or celebrating in
the foothills of Orange County … they are living in Lebanon.
The subjects addressed,
the story that unfolds and even what they say, although “just a movie,” are
things that could get them killed. In
fact, during the filming the cast and crew were often harassed by the locals
and there was always the danger that some of the cast — specifically the
characters of Ziad (Jean Kobrosly) and Rami (Ali Rhayem) — could go to prison
for being gay, even if it was “just a movie.”
Although the film was
shot on location in Lebanon, ironically with government approval (perhaps no
one bothered to dig too deeply into the script), the post work had to be
completed in the United States … it was simply too dangerous to attempt to
assemble the raw footage into a coherent narrative in Beiruit.
Out Loud, in Arabic with English subtitles, emerges as an
insightful look at a world where free expression and taboo relationships are
challenging and often fraught with peril.
To download this week's
complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report
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