El Houb

Roffa Mon Amour + OASE + Rotterdam Pride

Due to great summer weather the talk and screening take place outdoor

About the collaboration

On Saturday June 10, on the occasion of the Rotterdam Pride, we’re teaming up again with one of the most vibrant cultural hubs in Rotterdam West: OASE. It is a multifunctional meeting place that works on various social challenges to make Rotterdam a better city. For this reason, we selected a Rotterdam-based queer film, El Houb (2022) by Shariff Nasr, which will steal your heart.

About the talk (the talk is in Dutch) 

Before the start of the film a Pride Talk takes place with Fahd Larhzaoui (actor in the film), Khadija El Kharraz Alami and Hicham El Abbas. The Moderator is Sharvin Ramjan. The talk is about the impact of El Houb for the community and the importance of representation and role models in arts and culture. Please note the talk is in Dutch.

Fahd Larhzaoui

Actor and playwright Fahd Larhzaoui reaped his stage credits with several Dutch theater companies and worked with several Dutch directors. In early 2022, he was seen with Toneelgroep Oostpool in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In 2014, Larhzaoui presented his solo performance Schijn, in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Suriname and Curaçao. Schijn is his life story and was written by screenwriter Don Duyns and directed by Floris van Delft.

Khadija El Kharraz Alami 

Khadija is a courageous, idiosyncratic, and daring creator who breaks taboos. In 2014 she began to develop a unique way of storytelling, where the audience has an active role in the narrative. Khadija previously created the play Nu ben ik Medea, which had an international success. She’s currently present in the Flemish queer serie Roomies. 

Hicham El Abbas

Hicham el Abbas is a policy advisor on Diversity & Inclusion at the municipality of Rotterdam. He deals with anti-discrimination, emancipation, and safety at the team Inclusief Samenleven. Hicham focuses his work on bicultural LGBTQA+ people in Rotterdam and aims to create a safe(r) city for them.

About the film (Dutch spoken, English subtitled)

Karim, a Moroccan-Dutch guy is cuddling under the blankets with his lover Kofi after a night of passion until someone rings the bell. It’s the postman, Karim’s dad, who for the first time has to face the reality: His son is homosexual. Being caught convinces Karim to finally break the silence with his conservative parents who dream of Karim marrying and settling down with a Moroccan woman. Therefore, he decides to lock himself in his parent’s closet until they listen to what he has to say.

El Houb opens up about the sensibility of the coming out topic in the Moroccan-Dutch community. It dives into the cultural clashes and conflicts that can arise in a family with mixed values and life experiences. El Houb investigates Karim’s feelings through an odyssey of images, flashbacks, and memories. Shariff Nasr uses stunning photography to narrate Karim’s journey of self-reflection and acceptance. From neon pink lights of the gay clubs to the greyness of the sky of Rotterdam where he grew up.

Shariff Nasr based his work partly on the experiences of actor Fahd Larhzaoui (Karim), who previously made a play about his position as a gay man in Moroccan-Dutch culture. Due to its authenticity, humor, and at the same time sadness, El Houb will bring you on a rollercoaster of emotions.