Hala (2019)

Geraldine Viswanathan: Hala Masood

Photos 

Quotes 

• [Jesse sits next to Hala. Neither of them talk for half a minute] 

  Jesse : Did that scare you?

  Hala Masood : No. Why would I be scared?

  Jesse : Didn't you say you were scared of the silences?

• Hala Masood : Do you know what you wanna say?

  Jesse : [Starts to say something but stops. Then says something else]  You are so intense. You don't just ask someone that right away. I mean that's like... that's like give me your credit card number,

  [Hala cracks] 

  Jesse : you know. Social security and all your passwords.

  Hala Masood : Don't say that.

  Jesse : And your soul too while you're at it.

• Hala Masood : [narrating a poem]  Bodies next to bodies are just bodies. It is possible to feel unclean, even when you were wanted. It is possible to feel alone, lying next to someone you love, lying next to someone who loves you. It is possible to go back, knowing what you know now. It is possible to be full of contradictions.

• Hala Masood : [narrating]  I am of two parts divided. One, that rushes forward fearlessly; another, that questions everything.

• Hala Masood : You're really cool.

  Jesse : I know.

  [Both laugh]