Heartwarming new film Breaking Fast follows gay Muslim man looking for love during Ramadan
Haaz Sleiman plays gay Muslim Mo in Breaking Fast. (YouTube)
The trailer has been released for Breaking Fast, an upcoming queer film that follows a gay Muslim man trying to navigate romance during Ramadan.
The film, due for release on streaming platforms on 22 January, 2021, follows Mo (Haaz Sleiman), a practicing Muslim who is left reeling after a relationship falls apart.
In the aftermath of his failed relationships, Mo – a gay doctor living in West Hollywood – embarks on a new relationship with Kal (Michael Cassidy), an aspiring actor. Kal joins Mo during his nighty Iftars – the meal traditionally eaten by Muslims during Ramadan – and their relationship quickly blossoms.
The film debuted at the Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival in March and was later screened digitally at the Inside Out Film Festival in Toronto, among other festivals.
Speaking to ET following the release of the trailer, Breaking Fast director Mike Mosallam said he wanted to make a queer film with the same depiction of love as 1990s romantic comedies.
“I grew up learning what love was – how to accept it, how to push it away, who deserved it – from watching Julia Roberts movies and Disney musicals,” Mosallam said.
“I wanted to make a movie that would star Julia Roberts, if, in fact, she was a gay, Muslim, Arab man living in West Hollywood, CA.
“It affirms everyone’s right to love and to have fun in the process,” he added.
In another interview, he added: “My intention is to tell a story that speaks to the nuances of daily life and treats identity: religious, sexual, gender and otherwise, as harmonious lenses by which individuals interact with the world.”
Breaking Fast star Haaz Sleiman has spoken about the ‘fear’ of growing up gay
Speaking to Salon in January, the film’s star Haaz Sleiman opened up about the “debilitating and crippling fear” he felt about growing up gay and Arab.
The actor said he had to hide his identity from his family and friends from a young age. He later learned that his childhood friend was gay too.
“Later in our 30s, he and I talked, and it was: Look at all these years we wasted!
He continued: “The fear is debilitating and its crippling; you think you will be abandoned by your family and your world will fall apart, and it did.”
