Australian filmmaker Jordan Bryon has been living and working as a journalist and filmmaker in Afghanistan for more than six years. After the departure of US forces, he stays to document Afghan life under the male-centric Taliban leadership. With his colleague, Teddy, he heads to a Taliban stronghold in the north-west of the country, shortly after he started transitioning. If the Taliban knew he was trans, they would likely kill him. It’s a chaotic time, for the country and for Jordan, as he navigates his transformation and looks to the future.
Director
Australian filmmaker Jordan Bryon has been living and working as a journalist and filmmaker in Afghanistan for more than six years. After the departure of US forces, he stays to document Afghan life under the male-centric Taliban leadership. With his colleague, Teddy, he heads to a Taliban stronghold in the north-west of the country, shortly after he started transitioning. If the Taliban knew he was trans, they would likely kill him. It’s a chaotic time, for the country and for Jordan, as he navigates his transformation and looks to the future.
Director
Birds of The Borderlands follows four Arab queers as they risk their place in their families, communities and even countries to be themselves. Hiba is a Bedouin trans-girl fleeing her tribe before they discover her secret transition; Youssef is a gay Iraqi refugee murder-witness, waiting in hiding for UNHCR to hand him his fate; Khalaf is a gay Imam turned LGBT activist forced to seek asylum abroad after a vicious assault from his family; Rasha is a young Jordanian feminist who finds herself in a relationship with Jordan, the Australian filmmaker who is determined to help the film’s characters but doesn’t understand the price paid for freedom in a country where honor can still be thicker than blood.
