On campus event- Rafiki

On Friday I went to watch the film Rafiki. Rafiki is a Kenyan film that features the daughters of two political rivals, Kena and Ziki who fall in love in a society rampant with homophobia and discrimination. Seeing as homosexuality is illegal in Kenya, the two continuously struggle with hos much affection to show each other. Kena begins flirting with Ziki and soon the pair are going on dates. Ziki’s friends get jealous which leads them to attack Kena and when Ziki helps her with her injuries, Kena’s mom catches them kissing. This is where their romance takes a dark turn. They are both arrested and Ziki is sent to London. A couple years pass and Kena has become a doctor, which was her dream. Kena hears that Ziki is back and they meet and their love has not faded. Before the movie, we were given s brief background of the political weight of this movie. What I thought was really fascinating about this movie is that it was actually banned in Kenya. It was put up for a festival and the director sued the government to let the film be shown. It was unbanned for 7 days and showed to sold-out audiences each showing. It was really interesting for me to see how another society responds to homosexuality. Here in the US there is definitely still a lot of homophobia but nothing like in Kenya. It is a totally different culture around homosexuality and it took it as a learning experience.