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, assistant professor of film and media studies in 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, will premiere his new film at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in November.

In “Tripoli/A Tale of Three Cities,” the queer filmmaker returns to his Lebanon hometown. His quest to confront the city that once rejected him leads to interviews with a cross-section of the city’s inhabitants about a wide range of topics, with several recurring protagonists, including a queer artist and a young politician.

“Through cinema, I found ways to reorient myself in the city,” said Rafei. He said he used a queer lens and editing style to look at his hometown in a new light, aiming to combat assumptions about it as a rigid, conservative and oppressive place.

Rafei’s past films — “74 (The Reconstitution of a Struggle),” “Here I am ... Here You are,” “Salam” and “Al-Atlal (The Ruins)” — have screened at international film festivals and venues like the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Pacific Film Archives in Berkeley, California.

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Photography by Luciano Sprovieri