I’ve been meaning to see Wanuri Kahui’s Rafiki ever since it came out in 2018. The gifsets all look absolutely gorgeous (particularly the scene where the girls go to a nightclub and paint their faces with glow-in-the-dark paint), and a movie about two girls who fall in love in modern Kenya intrigued me.
But I kept putting it off, because I knew that the film tackles homophobia in Kenyan society, which is such that the film had a difficult time getting the required one-week screening in its home country to qualify for submission at the Academy Awards. I figured that if this is the fate of the film itself, the characters inside the film wouldn’t fare much better, and I am often not in the mood to watch a film braced for an explosion of homophobic violence.
( Spoilers )
The movie is beautifully shot. It offers a fascinating glimpse of Kenya, a well-developed aesthetic of its own, and a love story that is sweet despite the many challenges it faces. But boy! Not a relaxing viewing experience! Save it for when you want something to give your heart a workout.
But I kept putting it off, because I knew that the film tackles homophobia in Kenyan society, which is such that the film had a difficult time getting the required one-week screening in its home country to qualify for submission at the Academy Awards. I figured that if this is the fate of the film itself, the characters inside the film wouldn’t fare much better, and I am often not in the mood to watch a film braced for an explosion of homophobic violence.
( Spoilers )
The movie is beautifully shot. It offers a fascinating glimpse of Kenya, a well-developed aesthetic of its own, and a love story that is sweet despite the many challenges it faces. But boy! Not a relaxing viewing experience! Save it for when you want something to give your heart a workout.