Kenya lifts ban on lesbian film making it eligible for Oscars

World
Europe

An acclaimed Kenyan film portraying a lesbian relationship will now be eligible to be entered for a Foreign Language Oscar after a judge temporarily lifted a ban on its showing in the African nation.

The decision on Friday delighted the filmmakers but angered the country's censors.

“Rafiki” -- “Friend” in Swahili -- premiered at Cannes, the first Kenyan film to be selected by the prestigious festival.

Hailed by critics as a “sweet” romance about two young women who live in the same Nairobi housing estate, it was banned at home on the grounds that it promotes homosexuality, which is a criminal offense under a colonial-era law.

Director Wanuri Kahiu of "Rafiki" poses with actors Sheila Munyiva and Samantha Mugatsia during the 71st Cannes Film Festival on May 9, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Addressing a packed courtroom in Nairobi, Justice Wilfrida Okwany ordered the ban lifted for a week.

“During the seven-day suspension period, the film shall only be open for viewing to willing adults,” she said as a number of people sighed with apparent relief, hugged each other and congratulated the lawyer representing director Wanuri Kahiu.

Okwany said the director was “hereby allowed to admit the film” to Kenya's Oscars selection committee.

“I am crying. In a french airport. In SUCH Joy! Our constitution is STRONG! Give thanks to freedom of expression!!!! WE DID IT!” Kahiu tweeted.

Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu and actresses Samantha Mugatsia and Kenyan actress Sheila Munyiva pose as they arrive for the screening of the film "Rafiki" at the 71st Cannes Film Festival on May 9, 2018. /VCG Photo

A Nairobi cinema announced it would screen the movie from Sunday.

But the Kenya Film Classification Board, which banned the movie in April, said it still considered “Rafiki” morally subversive.

“It is a sad moment and a great insult, not only to the film industry, but to all Kenyans who stand for morality, that a film that glories homosexuality is allowed to be the country's branding tool abroad,” it said in a statement.

The judge said the film's depiction of a same-sex relationship has been “tolerable” to adult audiences in other countries including South Africa, where homosexuality, as in most of the continent, is also taboo.

“I am not convinced that Kenya is such a weak society whose moral foundation will be shaken by simply watching a film depicting gay themes,” Okwany said.

The ruling comes as Kenyan rights activists fight to decriminalize gay sex, something that happened in India this month, raising hopes among gay rights proponents in Africa.

Source(s): Reuters