Hi everyone!
Welcome back to our continuing series Under the Kanopy, featuring critically acclaimed, if not commercially successful film offerings on Kanopy, a public library and university funded streaming service. All it takes is a library card and you’ll get six free streams per month from a collection of classic and contemporary films, with agreements with The Criterion Channel, A24, Kino Lorber, and many more of your favorite independent producers and distributors. For a few other films in the series, check out ASH IS THE PUREST WHITE (Episode #643), HER SMELL (Episode #650), and BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ (Episode #657).
Before the review, we’ll have a promo from the Assassinations podcast. Every episode, Niall Cooper talks about a historical assassination, what lead up to it, and the effects that followed. You can find him on Twitter @assassinspod, where you can link to his podcast. Don’t miss his guest review for Reign of Terror 2019 for PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (Episode #615), where he helps me with my stupid, stupid mind.
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Here we go!
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Today’s movie is RAFIKI, the subversive Kenyan film directed by Wanuri Kahiu and written for the screen in collaboration with Jenna Cato Bass, based on the short story “Jambula Tree” by Monica Arac de Nyeko. The film follows Kena Mwaura (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki Okemi (Sheila Munyiva), the daughters of two prominent community men running for public office. When flirting leads to a romantic relationship, the two ladies must love each other in secret in order to keep themselves safe in Nairobi.
No spoilers.
However, a content warning for violence against women and multiple hate crimes.
The story about this film is just as important as the story within the film itself. Rafiki is Swahili for friend, which is often the way that same-sex partners introduce their lovers in public in Kenya, where same-sex relationships are punishable with up to 14 years in prison. While the United States, and many other countries, have been celebrating major victories for inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community, other countries, most notably African countries in alliance with Western evangelical Christians, have been implementing some of the harshest, most homophobic laws in the world. The logic is always the same, that somehow LGBTQ+ individuals can be conditioned via fear into changing their identities, or at the very least, learn to pass as heterosexual in society.
As you might imagine, RAFIKI was initially banned by the Kenyan Film Board for its promotion of same-sex relationships, specifically asking the directors to change the ending. Kahiu vehemently refused and the film was banned with stiff penalties for even having copies. A vigorous outcry went up from the worldwide LGBTQ+ and filmmaking communities, which lead to the film winning Un Certain Regard at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and the ban being overturned in Kenya after Kahiu sued for the film to be eligible for the Oscars. The Kenyan High Court overturned the ban, and the film ran for two weeks, but was ultimately not selected as Kenya’s selection for the Oscars. Clearly another story of censorship having the exact opposite effect in the Age of Information.
RAFIKI is the latest feature film from Wanuri Kahiu, a pre-eminent African filmmaker specifically engaged in Afrofuturism, the incorporation of black people’s history and culture into science fiction and related genres. In fact, her short PUMZI was Kenya’s first science fiction film. Afrofuturism featured heavily at the box office in 2018 with BLACK PANTHER (Episode #050). Notions of Afrofuturism have expanded outside of hard science fiction and into many other genres, including the critical horror hit GET OUT (Episode #448), and especially as science fiction and post-apocalyptic genres get way more diverse in their characters and their themes.
RAFIKI, by contrast, is a film very much set in Africa’s present, dealing with the oppressive beliefs regarding homosexuality. We’re introduced to a neighborhood in Nairobi, initially focused on a day in the life of Kena, who by all accounts and appearances would be considered a tomboy. Her male friends, and self-proclaimed potential suitors, often talk about their views regarding women, and by extension, the patriarchal views that define gender norms. Each female character that’s introduced is then judged based on those norms. Some characters, like Kena and Ziki, attempt to defy those norms, whether that’s Kena’s tomboy attitude or Ziki’s distinctive look. Other characters, like the town gossip and her daughter, force adherence to those norms.
The film proceeds in three parts. The first act closes by bringing Kena and Ziki together, publicly as friends, but privately as something much more. Color acts a barometer for the entire film. Kahiu’s uses bright colors in the first two acts, a combination of costumes and locations, framing shots to feature light and color, to exemplify the joy between the young women. Mugatsia and Munyiva has genuine chemistry as Kena and Ziki, communicated effectively with mere glances when needed, and patient action when allowed. However, as the second act comes to a close, and their relationship begins infringing on other people, the color begins to fade, and as we enter night-time, we begin to see the limits of acceptance, even for daughters of prominent political families.
Does RAFIKI tell a new story about forbidden relationships in intolerant communities? Not really. Every society that is still intolerant towards the LGBTQ+ community will have periods of transition, as communities wrestle with outdated notions of sex and love, and those stories will look similar. But what’s important about RAFIKI is that it helps tell Kenya’s story about this very transition. Kahiu was right to fight the censors over the ending to RAFIKI, not just for the principle of the matter, but because it lead to ultimately forcing the Kenyan Film Board to show the film, often to sold-out crowds, and started numerous conversations about Kenya’s restrictive laws towards the LGBTQ+ community. Art is one of the more powerful means of social change, which will make RAFIKI an important tool in the fight for acceptance in Kenya.
RAFIKI is a beautiful, daring film, as much about love and acceptance as it is about hate and intolerance, exploring both sides of the fight for LGBTQ+ acceptance in Kenya. Wanuri Kahiu combines Nairobi’s natural color with excellent costumes to weave a tale about forbidden love between two very strong lead roles. Fans of LGBTQ+ films, or folks who want a glimpse at the intolerance faced by LGBTQ+ individuals around the world, should definitely check out this film.
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% (CERTIFIED FRESH)
Metacritic: 68
One Movie Punch: 9.5/10
RAFIKI (2018) is not rated and is currently playing on Hoopla and Kanopy.
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