The director of Layla, a drama about the nature of modern relationships and coming to terms with differing values, talks to Shon Faye at BFI Southbank.
The question of how love alters our identity lies at the heart of this debut from one of London’s best-loved drag queens. Amrou Al-Kadhi’s first feature considers the relationship between Palestinian-British drag performer Layla and their white, straightlaced new love interest, Max. Set against the backdrop of Feathers (a larger-than-life fictional queer space threatened by – the very real – spectre of gentrification), the pair meet when Layla performs an outrageous act at a drab corporate event. Thrown together by fate – and ready-meals – their curiosity gives way to full-blown attraction. But Layla wears a dress made of karate belts and Max lives in a stylish minimalist apartment – their enjoyment of each other is increasingly complicated by urgent questions of difference, forcing both to confront the bittersweet nature of attraction. What does it mean to love someone? How much are you willing to compromise? And in the messy negotiation of tradition, gender presentation and differing communities, who gains and who must leave a part of themselves behind?