Belgian-Turkish co-production.
Mixed Kebab is a film project written by Guy Lee Thys (aided by a screenwriter’s grant from the Flemish Film Fund VAF) to be produced in 2009 by Fact & Fiction. Previous title: Merguez-Frites.
Bram Aydin, 27, a Belgian-born Turk, hides his homosexuality out of fear for his conservative family that live in a colorful Muslim neighborhood in Antwerp. Bram, short for Ibrahim, meets Kevin, a sweet and cute 19-year-old who works in a popular diner owned by his bubbly mother Marina.
Furkan, 17, Bram’s kid brother is a streetwise petty criminal. When Furkan finds out big brother Bram, who is always picking on him, leads a secret and in his eyes perverted life, he confronts his father with it. Mehmet doesn’t believe his story or the blurry videotape that goes with it and gives him a severe beating.
To crush the rumors surrounding Bram’s possibly alternative lifestyle, both Bram’s mom Fatma and Mehmet think it might be wise for their first born to start his own family and marry his cousin Elif who just turned 18 and who lives close to Mehmet’s native town of Emirdag. Bram accepts his fate, realizing he is doomed to live in hypocrisy. However, he wants to meet his bride-to-be in person first and asks Kevin to join him on a trip to Turkey.
The police pick up Furkan for his alleged involvement in the hold-up of Marina’s diner but they have to let him go soon after for lack of evidence. A furious Mehmet however, drags Furkan to the mosque and wants the old imam to change his son’s ways and make him into a good Muslim. There Furkan will meet Anwar, a young and radical mullah recently emigrated from Pakistan. It is Anwar who legitimizes Furkan’s tendency for everyday street terror against gays and everyone or everything considered “haram” (forbidden).
Elif turns out to be a sexy girl trying hard to look European “as seen on TV.” To her, the old continent is one big shopping mall packed with luxury and glitter. Elif can’t wait to leave Turkey, where she lives with her blind father in a holiday house, built by Bram’s dad. She feels she has the status of the janitor’s daughter and wants an upgrade. Bram understands that once in Belgium, Elif is going to cost him a fortune.
When Bram reveals his affection for and sexual interest in Kevin, the two young men experience a steamy love affair, which is soon discovered by Elif with some help from her admirer Yusuf, who works at the hotel where Bram and Kevin are staying. Elif won’t have the gay situation ruin her wedding plans and her future in Europe and blackmails Bram into signing the prenuptial papers.
Kevin and Bram fly back to Belgium where everyone is delighted with the news. Bram’s parents and his four married sisters plus their in-laws start planning the wedding.
Furkan of course knows exactly what’s afoot here. He hasn’t forgotten the beatings he got from his dad. His older brother disgusts him.
In the mean time, the pristine romance between Bram and Kevin has turned into a passionate love affair. Bram feels bad about not being able to show his affection for Kevin in public and since Marina, Kevin’s mother who’d always suspected her son was gay, doesn’t seem to mind at all, his frustration grows.
Furkan has found an eager ally in Yusuf who emails him compromising and quite explicit pictures of the gay couple. Furkan uses them to blackmail his brother.
To Bram this is the point of no return. He decides it is time to live his own life instead of always giving in to family and community and announces that he won’t go through with the marriage. He moves in with his lover Kevin in a suite of rooms over Marina’s diner.
The Aydins are utterly scandalized and see the neighborhood turn against them. Once a respected family, all of a sudden they’re the subject of mockery, rancor and general contempt. Neighbors, friends and acquaintances turn their backs to the Aydins much to Fatma’s and Mehmet’s chagrin. They are scared and confused and afraid to leave the house. Furkan, who in the mean time acts the part of a devote Muslim-–and dresses accordingly- is now their only support. His momentum has arrived. At the diner’s housewarming party, he plans to avenge the family honor….
photo © 2007 by benny fonteyne
