Roy Dib’s short film Mondial 2010 (2014) is part of the collective exhibition
MUSAFIRI: Of Travellers and Guests
at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin, Germany
Opening on March 7 , 2025
Exhibition on view from March 8, 2025 to June 16, 2025
Mondial 2010 is a discussion of institutional borders in modern day Middle East. It uses video as an apparatus to transgress boundaries that are inflicted on people in spite of them. It is a travel film in a trajectory that doesn’t allow travel, starring two male lovers, in a setting where homosexuality is a punishable felony. Shot with a hand-held camcorder, Mondial 2010 borrows the aesthetics of a travel video log. It normalizes the abnormal, and by doing so creates its own universe of possibility. It is a shift from the mainstream passive view of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict that places the victim/oppressor in the forefront of the produced imagery. This video glides over this conflict with an upper hand.
Note: The relations between Israelis and Lebanese are governed by the 1943 Lebanese Criminal Code and the 1955 Lebanese Anti-Israeli Boycott Law, the former of which forbids any interaction with nationals of enemy states, and the latter of which specifies Israelis, making a trip for a Lebanese citizen to Israel (or Palestinian Territories) impossible.
Mondial 2010, Stills, 2014. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mondial 2010 received multiple prizes and awards:
Teddy Award for Best Short Film – The TEDDY Award, Berlinale, Berlin 2014
Best First Film – Lebanese Film Festival, Beirut 2014
Inntravel Award – Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, Berwick-Upon-Tweed 2014
Best Short Film – Queer Lisboa International Film Festival, Lisbon 2014
Uppsala Grand Prix – Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Uppsala 2014
Best Film Award – Sicilia Queer FilmFest Award, Sicily 2015
Special Mention – Palermo Pride, Sicilia Queer FilmFest Award, Sicily 2015
19th Contemporary Art Festival SESC_Videobrasil / Southern Panoramas’ Award – Vila Sul – Goethe-Institut Residency Prize
