Private Project

The Adam Basma Project

My father was born to twelve brothers and sisters, who all grew up in the heart of Beirut. From his siblings, one is distinguished: Adam.
All I knew, growing up about Adam is that, first, “Adam” is not his real name. Second, he’s a successful belly dancer based in LA, and third he's happily married to his husband. The only souvenir I have from my uncle is him belly dancing on our old balcony when I was around six or seven years old.
Without being aware of it, I’ve been asking myself my whole life who Adam is.

  • Leila Basma
    Director
    Man is Hunter, New Years
  • Leila Basma
    Writer
    Man is Hunter, New Years
  • Leila Basma
    Producer
    Man is Hunter, New Years
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Student
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 55 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    600 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Lebanon
  • Country of Filming:
    Lebanon
  • Language:
    Arabic
  • Shooting Format:
    Camcorder
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Leila Basma

Leila graduated from the Institut des Etudes Scéniques et Audio- Visuelles (IESAV) of Beirut in 2017 with her film Man is Hunter, which went to International film festivals like Aesthetica Short Film Festival, Oldenburg International Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival. After her graduation she worked as a freelance director, and started developing Sea Salt, which got selected at BACKSTORY The Film Residency with the Beirut Art Residency. She is currently based in Prague pursuing an MFA in Film Directing in FAMU (the National Film and TV school in Prague).

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Director Statement

Not knowing who my uncle is has always made me feel like there was a lot to my parents and to my whole family I didn’t know. I didn’t really know if my parents have really accepted my uncle, I also didn’t know why there was so many unspoken issues between my father and his siblings. In this short film, I try to build a portrait of Adam, through the words of my mother, father and aunts, but this film is also the first step to a long self-exploration and a discovery of each one of my family members.