Half a Life
Half a Life
What do you do when love for your country and your own safety are at odds? Half a Life is a multi-award winning animated documentary short that features the personal testimony of a young, gay Egyptian activist as he struggles to decide whether to continue to fight for LGBTQ rights in Cairo, the home that he loves, or seek safety in asylum elsewhere.
What do you do when love for your country and your own safety are at odds?
Half a Life is part of Queer in a Time of Forced Migration, an animated transmedia series that follows the stories of LGBTQ refugees from Egypt, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia across continents and cultures — from the 2011 Revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa region to the world today.
Combining intimate, first-person audio accounts with visceral animation in a film (HALF A LIFE), VR experience (ANOTHER DREAM), and web interactive (THEY CALL ME ASYLUM SEEKER), it shares the experiences of queer people of color from Egypt, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia firsthand.QUEER IN A TIME OF FORCED MIGRATION was recently on exhibit at the Amsterdam Museum and is available to tour to museums, galleries, and educational institutions worldwide.
Seen At: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Doc Fortnight, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Iris Prize Festival, Frameline, Sheffield Doc/Fest, and more
Half a Life is a multi-award winning animated documentary short that features the personal testimony of a young, gay Egyptian activist as he struggles to decide whether to continue to fight for LGBTQ rights in Cairo, the home that he loves, or seek safety in asylum elsewhere.
Our work
Anouschka
When your song is silenced, how do you rekindle your magic in the world? Join Anouschka, a teenage violin prodigy, as she rediscovers her city, her family history, and ultimately herself.
Where There is Light
The need to recalibrate, reflect, and center mental wellness after uncertain years drove artist Tamara Shogaolu to develop WHERE THERE IS LIGHT. Inspired by the practice of forest bathing and by the Panamanian rainforest, WHERE THERE IS LIGHT is an interactive installation that merges mental wellness with nature through technology by allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a rainforest.
Un(re)solved AR Installation
Un(re)solved tells the stories of civil rights era cold cases and families still searching for justice.
Queer in time of a forced migration
Multi-Platform Project (Film, VR Experience, & Web Interactive) Follow the journeys of LGBTQ refugees from the Middle East across continents and cultures—from the 2011 Revolutions to the world today. Animated Transmedia Series consisting Another Dream, Half a Life and They Call Me Asylum Seeker.
Exhibited at:
Gallery
Partners
Credits
Directed, Produced, & Written by Tamara Shogaolu
Nada El Kouny – Associate Producer
Lauren Dubowski – Associate Producer
Bramasta Dwi Saka – Lead Animator
Gata Mahardika – Illustrator/Animator
Hafid Fachrudin – Illustrator/Animator