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"You don't know what it's like to live a lie, Karim." Uncork'd Ent. & Dark Star Pics have revealed an official US trailer for an indie film titled El Houb, made by the Moroccan-Dutch filmmaker Shariff Nasr. After premiering at film festivals around the world last year, it will be opening in select theaters week - and on VOD next week. Writer / director Shariff Nasr's intimate, unique and commanding exploration of a man who comes out to his family. Moroccan-Dutch Karim returns to his family home and opens up to his parents about being attracted to men. Their reaction inspires a journey of discovery through Karim's isolation as he attempts to break an ingrained culture of silence. El Houb is inspired by main actor Fahd Larhzaoui's personal experiences with coming out to his family. El Houb (meaning "the love") focuses on the silent culture the director has observed in Arabic...

“El Houb” (“The Love”) tells the story of Karim (Fahd Larhzaoui), a young Moroccan-Dutch man caught by his father with another man, who rushes home to finally talk to his parents about the truth he’s hidden from them for so long. What follows is a difficult but necessary confrontation as Karim, after years of keeping up appearances, finally opens up about the fact that he’s gay — but can he expect acceptance from his family if he still hasn’t come to terms with his sexuality?

Watch the trailer, exclusively at TheWrap, at the top of the page.

The intimate new drama from writer-director Shariff Nasr defies stereotypes about Middle Eastern and North African (Mena) immigrant communities, examining how for many in this situation, the challenge to overcome isn’t hate or bigotry, but silence. Starring Larhzaoui, Lubna Azabal, and Slimane Dazi, “El Houb” was written by Nasr, Philip Delmaar and Fahd Larhzaoui,...

There’s a popular myth that for LGBTQ+ people, the process of coming out involves making a single, brave declaration to loved ones who, for good or ill, immediately acknowledge the reality of the situation. For many people, however, it doesn’t work that way. Often a family will already know, and the individual in question will know that they know, but nobody will be willing to talk about it. Everything becomes about keeping up appearances – any number of behaviours deemed inappropriate might be tacitly accepted as long as they’re kept quiet, but accompanying emotions are not taken seriously and honesty is right out.

Karim (Fahd Larhzaoui) is sick of living like that. His partner Kofi (Emmanuel Boafo) is still more frustrated by it, having left his own family behind in order to live openly as a gay man. Karim doesn’t want to do the same. The love of the film’s title.

Fahd Larhzaoui and Emmanuel Ohene Boafo in The Love (El Houb) Photo: courtesy of Shariff Nasr

What do you do if your family refuses to accept your sexuality, or tells you that you ought to keep it secret? Is there a way of forcing conversation to happen? And how can that be complicated by religion and the additional pressures of life in small communities? Shariff Nasr’s The Love (El Houb), which is screening as part of Newfest 2022, sees its hero Karim (Fahd Larhzaoui) literally shut himself in a closet in the family home, refusing to leave it until his parents are willing to talk. What follows blends elements of comedy and tragedy as flashbacks address issues in his past and everyone in the household wrestles with complicated emotions.

Shariff Nasr Photo: Curly X Straight

“The idea for the film came when I was visiting family,” he tells me when...

Belgian actor Lubna Azabal, who appeared in Oscar nominated films “Paradise Now” and “Incendies,” and French actor Slimane Dazi, who appeared in Oscar nominated “A Prophet” and Palme d’Or contender “Only Lovers Left Alive,” have joined the cast of Shariff Nasr’s buzzy feature debut “El Houb” (“The Love”).

Azabal, 47, ages up to play the role of the protagonist’s elderly mother in the film, which charts a son’s coming out journey to his Moroccan-Dutch family.

As previously reported, the film stars the Dutch TV and theater actor Fahd Larhzaoui – best known for his presenting role on long-running Dutch kids TV series “Huisje Boompje Beestje.”

Nasr, who co-wrote the screenplay with Philip Delmaar, was inspired by Larhzaoui’s own experiences of coming out to his family, which the actor has previously documented in his solo theater shows.

In a statement, the director said of his cast: “It is...