HOMUNCULUS

France, Italy | 2025 | 18 min | col.| French, English, Italian, Russian

In a video game, an apparently human figure explores a fantasy world of gay cruising that features interactions reminiscent of dating apps. He is approached by characters that are attracted to his physical appearance, defined “Arab.” Fetishism. A concentrate of stereotypes associated with Arab masculinity in Europe: a tendency towards domination and a desire for submission conjure up Western homoerotic demons - torn between the temptations of systemic violence and oppression and the paternalistic contradictions of those who are trying to exorcise their privilege. The protagonist wavers at this crossroads of racism, exoticism, and classism, which unveils the deeper dynamics of colonial power and logics that govern Eros. The film provides an ironic, sharp reflection on the hypersexualisation of racialised bodies as well as on the political nature of the notions of maleness and virility marking homoerotic sex. (M.M.)