Netherlands Production Platform - Nederlands Film Festival

Corps
diplomatique
Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion
Switzerland
Writer/director Nadia Farès
Producer Samir
6 • NPP 2008
Synopsis
Ismail Attia is a brilliant student who is completing
his degree at the prestigious Graduate
Institute for International Studies in Geneva. It
is the first time he has been separated from
his family; it is also his first stay in Europe.
Back in Cairo, he had already become
aware that he was more attracted to men,
but it is in Geneva that he first has one-night
stands. He never sees the same man twice
and never reveals his identity. And, when his
family arrives in Geneva, he doesn’t risk his
reputation any longer; instead, he assists his
father, Hussein, in a delicate mission.
But, at a diplomatic reception, Ismail falls
in love with the attractive and intelligent waiter,
Giuseppe. He starts to live a double life,
careful and clever, never arousing suspicion.
He uses his classmate, Aurelia, who is
madly in love with him, to cover up his secret
life. He even gives Aurelia an engagement
ring. Surprised but flattered, she accepts.
Ismail thinks that nobody will suspect the
true going-ons in his life. At the same time,
his father is on the receiving end of a lot of
criticism to do with the poor conditions of
women in his home country, and the fact that
homosexuals are imprisoned there. Ismail’s
brother, Mounir, who feels excluded from his
father’s attention, discovers Ismail’s secret.
He films his brother kissing Giuseppe.
Hussein is given the tape to watch.
Shocked, he refuses to acknowledge the
fact that his eldest son is gay and asks
Mounir to keep it a secret. Meanwhile, Ismail
feels more and more pressured by the double-life
that he is leading and tells Giuseppe
about his fake engagement to Aurelia.
Giuseppe is furious and they separate.
Ismail’s father invites him to spend the
evening with two call girls. His father wants
answers. But his ploy does not deliver the
desired results. He slowly understands that
he can’t change his son.
From that moment on, Hussein treats
Ismail like a dog. He locks him in his room
and confiscates his mobile, his keys and his
passport. Ismail realises he has to make a
decision: with the help of his sister and his
mother, he leaves his family behind…
Director’s statement
Corps diplomatique is inspired by a true
story. On September 25 2007, Mahmoud
Ahmedinejab declared, during a conference
in New York, that there were no homosexuals
in Iran. Said without irony, the statement
showed that, in Arab and Muslim cultures,
homosexuality is still completely denied.
Insults, mistreatment and imprisonments
are the usual response.
Ismail experiences similar treatment
within his own family. His battle for emancipation
is also a battle against a disgusting
hypocrisy. The diplomatic environment in
which the story takes place adds a touch of
irony to Ismail’s quest for emancipation and
the drama of deception and punishment.
Ironically, Hussein, the defender of human
rights in public, turns into an executioner in
private. Amid such contradictions, Ismail
has to make fundamental choices.
The cruelty of this intimate coming-out
story contrasts with the beauty of Geneva.
The story isn’t told in a militant way: an ideological
approach would have weakened the
tragedy. The script makes use of comedic
elements, which serve to enrich the human
relations - because above all else, it is a family
story with a universal theme.
Director Nadia Farès
Nadia Farès grew up in Switzerland. She
lived in Cairo and New York before moving to
Paris, where she currently lives and works.
While attending classes at the Tisch
New York University, she made her first
short films. Whilst still studying, Farès met
Kryzstof Kieslowski and started to work for
him as an assistant. She was supported by
him during the writing of the screenplay for
her short film Sugarblues, with which she
won the Stanley Thomas Johnson Prize.
After her Masters degree in Fine Arts at
New York University in 1996, she began
working on her first feature film, Miel et cendres
(Honey and Ashes), which enjoyed
great acclaim at numerous international festivals
and won several awards.
Parallel to her work for TV, Farès also