Treat Me Like Your Mother (2025)
Four trans women from Lebanon—Em Abed, Jamal Abdo, Antonella, and Mama Jad—recount lives shaped by resilience, love, and loss. Their stories span from the groundbreaking state-funded gender-affirming surgery of 1997 to the disappearance of Beirut’s once-safe queer spaces. Through personal photographs, archival footage, and recollections of places like the Raouche strip, their voices resurrect a forgotten history of community and survival amid war and oppression. Interwoven with the filmmaker’s own journey of self-discovery, this intimate documentary traces four decades of trans life in Beirut, celebrating friendship, identity, and the enduring spirit of chosen family.
Director: Mohamad Abdouni
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Antonella as Self |
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Em Abed as Self |
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Jamal Abdo as Self |
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Mama Jad as Self |
| Directing | Mohamad Abdouni | Director |
| Writing | Mohamad Abdouni | Writer |
| Production | Riham Ezzaldeen | Producer |
| Editing | Riwa Phillips | Editor |
| Lighting | Pauline Maroun | Lighting Director |
| Camera | Malek Hosni | Camera Operator |
| Sound | Malek Hosni | Sound Recordist |
| Art | Issa Kandil | Set Designer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Charles Nicola | Key Hair Stylist |
| Costume & Make-Up | Andréa Najarian | Makeup Artist |
| Sound | Mohamad Abdouni | Music Supervisor |
| Sound | Fadi Tabbal | Sound Mixer |
| Sound | Charbel Haber | Original Music Composer |
| Sound | Fadi Tabbal | Original Music Composer |
| Sound | Postcards | Original Music Composer |