Can one be gay and a pious Muslim at the same time? 

That's the topic that Indian Muslim film director Parvez Sharma explores in his controversial 2007 documentary "A Jihad for Love" through a range of colorful characters.

Among others, viewers are introduced to a group of homosexual Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey, an openly gay Muslim imam, and a devout Egyptian lesbian who is struggling to cope with her faith and her sexual orientation.

Sharma recently traveled to Lebanon for the screening of his film in Beirut, which marked the first public showing of "A Jihad for Love" in an Arab country. 

Babylon & Beyond sat down with Sharma to talk about his film, Islam and homosexuality, and his upcoming controversial projects.

"I was a bit apprehensive at first because I realize that people in Lebanon have a complex relationship to religion, so I was worried how they would react to such a shamelessly religious film," he said. "At the same time I was aware it was elite crowd. It wasn't exactly Hezbollah coming to see it. So I don’t think all of Beirut saw my film. I think a small bubble of it did."