Swahili for "friend"

February 14, 2019 12:11 PM

Kenyan film director Wanuri Kahiu wanted a hopeful African love story she could adapt into a film. She found what she was looking for in Jambula Tree, a Caine Prize-winning short story by Ugdandan author Monica Arac de Nyeko about the love and courtship of two young women. Kahiu's film is named Rafiki--Swahili for "friend"--which, as Kahiu frequently states in interviews, "is how queer Kenyans need to introduce their partners in a society where it is not yet safe to name their love directly." The film premiered at Cannes in 2018 (trailer here), but the Kenyan Film and Classification Board banned it back home. After suing the government, Kahiu won a 7-day suspension of the ban to allow Rafiki to qualify for the Academy Awards; the theaters were packed, breaking box office records, but the Kenyan Oscars selection committee declined to submit Rafiki for consideration. Africa Is A Country has more on the film, which plays against the backdrop of Kenya's expected February 22nd Constitutional Court ruling on colonial-era laws that criminalize homosexuality.
posted by duffell (4 comments total)

I saw Rafiki at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. The thing that struck me most about the film was that [spoiler alert], sadly, exactly nobody in the protagonists' community was happy for them that they were in love.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 1:19 PM on February 14, 2019

The trailer looks lovely, I will be watching this for sure.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:05 PM on February 14, 2019

I added this to Fanfare when I watched it last year but I don’t think anyone else has seen it! It was a lovely film, and I’m still listening to the soundtrack.
posted by ellieBOA at 10:52 PM on February 14, 2019

My wife and I went to see this when it was here in Bonn the other week! Cinematically it was stunning -- the colours, of course, but even from the opening credits every shot was tender, fierce and perfect -- it's hard to believe it's a debut. Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva were just brilliant, too.
posted by jeudi at 11:14 AM on February 15, 2019