Rafiki Director Continues to Fight Kenyan Ban
October 21, 2018Wanuri Kahiu, director of the critically acclaimed Lesbian drama ‘Rafiki’, has pledged to continue fighting the film’s ban in her home country Kenya, NPR reports.
The film follows Kena and Ziki, two young women who fall in love despite their family’s political rivalry. They find themselves torn between security and happiness. The film was entirely shot in Kenya, despite homosexuality being both illegal and taboo.
Rafiki has become the first Kenyan film to be screened at the prestigious Cannes film festival. Kahiu was able to sue the Kenyan government and lift the ban on the film there for one week only, so they could screen it and be eligible to submit for the Oscars.
“We went to court to say, can you please let it run for seven days so it can qualify to be an Oscars submission? That’s how we go the ban lifted [temporarily], which was great,” Kahiu said at a screening of the film on Saturday.
“The judge made it super clear, she said, ‘I don’t think Kenyans will have an issue with this film.’
“There’s this new East African word called ‘gayism,’ and the conversation was about that, how this film is promoting and spreading ‘gayism.’ The judge said, ‘No, you don’t catch it,’ and lifted the ban.
“We’re going back into court to continue to fight for the larger freedom of expression case [to secure a permanent release].
“We have a really young constitution, but our constitution hasn’t been tested yet. Freedom [of] expression is one bit.
“The laws that ban the film are colonial laws, and we are asking for the laws to be updated so that they reflect the constitution that we have. There’s nothing in the constitution that says we can’t make films like this.
“I never considered myself an activist… but my work became work that you needed to advocate for. I was pushed into a space where I had to advocate for the work I was creating.”
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