By Matthew Lavietes
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Several years ago, over coffee with a friend, Hollywood writer and director Mike Mosallam grew frustrated that he couldn’t name a film about gay Muslims. So he wrote one.
“Breaking Fast” is a romantic comedy that follows Mo, a Muslim doctor of Lebanese descent who falls in love with a white actor named Kal.
The film takes place against gay-friendly West Hollywood during the holy month of Ramadan, a time of year when Muslims cannot eat, drink or have sex from dawn to sunset.
“This story really came out of a desire to see a journey and characters that looked like me and my friends and the things we talk about,” Mosallam, a gay Muslim of Lebanese descent, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
After meeting at a birthday party, all-American Kal offers to join Mo’s nightly iftars, a traditional meal eaten during Ramadan, enmeshing the pair in a cross-cultural relationship.
Since its release last Friday on streaming services, critics have called the film “incisive” and “heartfelt”.
Aside from winning acclaim, the 41-year-old movie maker wants to bust stereotypes that “you can’t be gay and Muslim”.
