Tender reveals the nuances and tender sides of the communities of Western Sydney through four individual but interconnected documentary films by multidisciplinary artists.

Mohammad Awad debunks the myth that queer and trans people need to leave their Western Sydney homes to find love, joy and intimacy, in Bikes, a documentary music video.

How can you say love does not exist for me here, when heartbreak has been my witness?

Bikes is an intimate exploration of queer love in Western Sydney in two parts, immersing the viewer in the lives of queer people either in love or looking for love, while retelling a story of queer romance and heartbreak. Debunking the myth that queer and trans people need to leave their Western Sydney homes to find love, joy and intimacy.

This piece actively opposes a one-dimensional narrative of queer love only existing in shame and behind closed doors, everywhere you turn, we thrive before your eyes - allow our love to encompass you. The scope and format of the space is utilised to create a world of queer love that you can walk into and be entranced by, capturing mere glimpses of each couple's conversations within the soundscape, allowing the viewer to imagine what each couple's story may be and inviting them to project onto these vignettes of love.

The central metaphor of a Bike represents a nomadic love-interest who is always on the run, wreaking havoc and heartbreak on the city of Western Sydney. Despite the cycle of emotional turmoil caused by jealousy, infidelity and distance - the subject remains hooked by this love. Repeating the hook “I don’t mind, cause he’s mine”, reaffirming the mantra of denial and reassures his lover that he’s a ‘ride or die’ who will always be there for the ride.

The musical soundscape is dreamlike, capturing the innocence and wonder of young romance amidst the backdrop of a Western Sydney landscape. The piece glides through melancholic tones and upbeat tempos, with themes of heartbreak creeping in, ultimately processing the grief and denial of a relationship changing irrevocably.

Religious imagery and metaphors are incorporated to showcase the relationship between divinity and love, such as the performance of sufi darwish (twirling dervish) in the context of heartbreak. The darwish is traditionally practised as a form of prayer, dissociating from connections to the material world and becoming more receptive to divine intervention. However here it's performed in the context of heartbreak, with the subject's disorientation on display and attempting to disconnect from reality. This metaphor is extended with the reveal of other subjects also performing darwish, reinforcing the themes of infidelity and reflecting the complexity of modern queer relationships.

Creative credits

Writer and Director
Mohammad Awad

Producer
CuriousWorks
Mohammad Awad

Cast
Mohammad Awad
Steven Otakilevuka
Abdullah Sankari
Chloe Singleton and Seren liu
Felix Officer-McIntyre and Sara El Youghun
Mewmel Muraben
Meg Jefferson and Elise Carsburg

DOP
Lucca BP

Camera Assistant
Irisha Adnyana
Trudi Gultom

Gaffer
Deniz Celik

Sound operator
Carla Dobbie

Production Assistant
Miranda Aguilar
Elias Nohra

Editor
Mohammad Awad

Composer and music producer
Carla Dobbie

Sound mixer
Tahlia-Rose Coleman

Song by
Mohammad Awad (3AWADI)

Typography/titling
Huy Nguyen

Creative and Technical Director
Elias Nohra

Production manager
Samantha Barahona, CuriousWorks

Production Consultant
Miranda Aguilar, CuriousWorks

Communications Officer
Jenny Trinh, CuriousWorks

Special thanks
Selin Ayer

This work was produced by Curiousworks, under the creative and technical direction of Elias Nohra. It was commissioned by Sydney Opera House and supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Mohammad Awad (AKA 3AWADI) is a Writer/Director/Poet/Playwright/Musician who’s running out of ways to express himself. He has written and directed short films such as The Flower, The Messenger and Beauty Marks. Published in an anthology series Arab, Australian, Other, as well as The University of Sydney Student Anthology Diversity, he is also one of the proud editors and authors of the award-winning Mental Health collection- Admissions. A development and reading of Mohammads play Harami debuted at Sydney Theatre Company in 2023, alongside award-winning director Tasnim Hossain.

A NSW State finalist in the Australian Poetry Slam, Mohammad has also been honoured as Australia's National Youth Poetry Champion. He has also featured in the Sydney Writers Festival, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Mardi Gras and World Pride, Art Gallery of NSW, The ICC, The Iconic West Ball, Big Thick Energy, Sydney Living Museums - After Dark, Out for Australia's ‘30 under 30’, The Vanguard and Giant Dwarf Theatre. As well as being featured on ABC’s hit TV Show Space 22, The Drum and SBS.