Kena and Ziki are two young Kenyan women, the daughters of politicians. They discover love together, finding themselves confronted with a conservative Kenyan society. Here is the synopsis of Rafiki, recently released in French cinemas, and strongly rejected in Kenya, his country of origin.
Inspired by the book Jambula Tree by Monica Arac de Nyeko, Rafiki is an ode to female homosexuality. Unfortunately, Wanuri Kahiu, its director, has to fight for her film to be shown in her home country. She explains that:
"Making a film about two women in love in Kenya is tantamount to shaking up the deep-seated cynicism in society about homosexuality."
The Kenya Film Censorship Board (KFCB) has banned the screening of the film in Kenya. Since then, Wanuri Kahiu has been fighting, and has filed a complaint against the KFCB.
In September 2018, in order to allow the film to be nominated for an Oscar, the Kenyan justice lifted the censorship of the film Rafiki for only seven days. During this period, it met with great success in the five theaters where it was screened.
Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva) are the two main characters of Rafiki.
Confiding in Le Point, the committed director develops:
"I don't know if the film can change the mindset of homophobic people. But it can serve as a starting point to start a discussion about people's right to love each other, to be friends, to talk about work… Let everyone be treated equally. These are the values we believe in in Kenya. The motto of our nation is: "Peace, love and unity."We hope that this film will give full meaning to this motto."
In Africa, countries and populations still struggle to accept homosexuality. On 20 December 2013, the Ugandan Parliament adopted a bill providing for life imprisonment for people who repeat their homosexual acts. The Malaysian government launched a video contest in 2017 on the theme "how to avoid homosexuality". In this country, homosexuality is officially prohibited and can be punished by prison, corporal punishment or a fine. Homosexuality is also condemned by law in Senegal, and in thirty-six states in Africa.
Rafiki, which means "friend" in Swahili (official language in Kenya and many African countries), still has a long work to do to open the minds of the most conservative. But by seeing the birth of more and more films defending the LGBT community, we dare to hope that the 7th art will change our society a little bit to distribute a little more tolerance everywhere.
