Halal Love (and Sex)

Sex by the book, is that conceivable? And what if the book happens to be the Koran? With this mosaic film in contemporary Beirut, Assad Faloudkar gives us a glimpse behind the veil. In this morality sketch, modern devout Muslim couples wrestle with love and lust, without breaking religious rules. Awatef is looking for a second wife for her husband Salim, so she can have a break from his boundless libido. The young couple Mokhtar and Fatmeh have just married, but his hot-tempered jealousy means they’ve also divorced three times. Now Fatmeh first has to marry someone else before Mokhtar can be hers again. The recently divorced Loubna finally wins her childhood sweetheart, but only in a temporary ‘marriage of pleasure’.
In recent years, Fouladkar made one of the most popular sitcoms in the Arab world with A Man and Six Women. For his second feature, he combines the farcical tone of the sitcom with these more tragicomic love stories.