Nakhane (front) stars in Inxeba (The Wound), a South African film about gay love at an initiation school.
Inxeba/Urucu Media
Despite harsh laws, a growing number of African countries are representing queer life in their cinema.
A still from Rafiki, a film by Wanuri Kahiu, Kenya (2018)
Rafiki/Big World Cinema
Discussions about the films on social media and online forums show that African queer lives are complex and don’t tell a single story.
Big World Cinema/Afrobubblegum
It wasn’t just the film Rafiki - a joyful lesbian love story - but also the experience of going to watch it after it was unbanned that created a new kind of freedom.
Rafiki was banned from cinemas by the Kenya Film Classification Board for promoting same-sex relationships.
Supplied
A Kenyan film director sued her country’s film board and won. Local artists should follow suit and fight censorship.