In focusing his attention on the competitors of Mr Gay Syria, director Ayse Toprak shatters the one-dimensional meaning of “refugee”. Using the pageant as a means of escape from political persecution, the organiser Mahmoud — already given asylum in Berlin — hopes to offer the winner a chance to travel as well as bring international attention to the life-threatening situations faced by LGBT Syrians.

A Moment in the Reeds is an intimate drama about the chance encounter of two men by the Finnish lakeside. Leevi, who left Finland behind to study abroad, has returned for the summer to help his father renovate the family lake house. Tareq, a Syrian asylum seeker, has also been hired to help, and when Leevi’s father returns to town on business, the two young men give in to their mutual attraction, spending a few midsummer days discovering one another. Among the first queer-themed feature films made in Finland, A Moment in the Reeds puts the long-marginalized voices of sexual and ethnic minorities at center stage in a story about the search for freedom, acceptance, and a place to call home.