Queer Exile Explored in New Berlin Drama

Lovers Sleep Alone, the debut feature from Iranian filmmaker Massih Parsaei, will premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival on September 25th. The film is set in Berlin and focuses on Iman, a queer man living in exile. He grapples with isolation, working as a caregiver and finding solace in transient encounters.

Iman's life in Berlin is defined by absence, from his family and homeland to his sense of self. He constructs invented stories to fill the silence, reflecting his internal state. The arrival of his cousin, Maneli, from Tehran challenges his carefully constructed world.

Parsaei drew inspiration from his own experiences of displacement. He aimed to portray Iman's in-between state, a struggle between past desires and emerging ones, without explaining or pathologizing his past. The film seeks to show his daily life and the underlying emotional landscape.

The film is a co-production involving Film Five GmbH and the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg. It received funding from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg & Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg. Ava Darvishi and Marcel Kohler also star in the film.