by Douglas
Messerli
Michael
Rittmannsberger (screenwriter and director) Der Verurteilte (The
Culprit) / 2015 [3 minutes]
This 3-minute
drama in Arabic was made by Amnesty International to publicize the fact that in
78 countries simply the fact that two men are in love can lead to arrest and prosecution;
in 8 of those countries the punishment is death.
The
central figure of this work (Ali Osman Berber) has been captured, tortured, and
is about to be hung for his crime of love. He regrets nothing, and the fact
that his sexual partner Saeed has escaped and gone into hiding comforts him.
The have been described as “godless
monsters.” Even his family has turned away from him. The only things he does
regret, however, is that were not more careful. And he hopes Saeed has hidden
himself in a safe place. What has gotten him through the tortures was the
memory of their last meeting together.
And
even as the rope is around his neck, he says, “I love you Saeed.”
This is a very effective short piece, but
alas it probably reaches primarily an audience that can provide no help for
those who cannot comprehend the absurdity of their view believing it as religious
law. And deaths will continue to occur simply for men loving people of their
own gender. Even in so-called “enlightened” societies, being gay is often still
perceived by many as a perversion.
Basically, however, such ads seem to me
primarily as simply a nice way to ease our collective conscience for not
putting more pressure on those everywhere who use their religions to hate and
destroy those who only would express their love. But we live always in a world
where so very many individuals are dying for love.
Los Angeles,
December 26, 2025
Reprinted from My
Queer Cinema blog (December 2025).
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