Afro Queer Voices
program description
Afro Queer Voices focuses on Black Queer visibility of African LGBTQIA+ filmmakers or their protagonists reclaiming their narratives.
This program presents engaging images of African queerness and gender fluidity highlighting the oppression experienced by LGBTQIA+ individuals on the African continent and beyond. With this program, we invite audiences to immerse themselves in the complexities of Black Queer love and explore the controversies around homosexuality and Queerness in different African communities. The films navigate between Queer rights, politics, and culture, as well as internal suffering, abandonment, and the struggle for acceptance.
With Afro Queer Voices, we learn that the forms of resistance invented by Queer communities, especially those experiencing compounded oppression, vary. As we witness the pain of loss due to family abandonment, hate crime, violence, and psychological abuse, young African Queers escape without a known destination and slim chances of survival. Resistance becomes an underground life of alternative families and kin as support networks aiming to provide shelter, comfort, and safety to those expelled from their original homes.
The program aspires to navigate issues of social injustice and politics, underlining that the global Afro Queer community is not only an integral part of Queer cultures that require historical acknowledgment, but also a significant cornerstone of global feminist social movements.
about the curator
Ronnie Vitalia, a Sudanese Black feminist, lesbian rights activist, and content writer, currently collaborates as a fellow on Cinelogue's Afro Queer Voices film program. Passionate about advancing African LGBTQIA+ and women's rights, Ronnie combines her love for the arts with advocacy for social justice and equality for marginalized communities. With a focus on fostering dialogue and diverse representation through cultural production, she addresses the nuances of African Queer identities in her writing. With Afro Queer Voices, Ronnie commits to curating a collection of Afro-Queer films that bring the unique stories of Black LGBTQIA+ filmmakers from various backgrounds to the forefront.
São Vicente, Cape Verde, 2015, 1h 34m
Within a small tropical Cape Verdean Island, the beloved Tchinda is hard at work preparing for a Carnival she hopes will capture the town’s imagination. Despite her great reputation, Tchinda remains humble.
Zimbabwe / Germany, 2001, 30m
This film tells the story of two women lovers named Nongoma and Tsitsi who live in the countryside in Zimbabwe. Lesbian relationships are very much taboo in Zimbabwe and, when their secret affair is discovered, Nongoma is obliged to run away from her village and escape to the city.
Nigeria, 2022, 45m
Kambili returns home after fifteen years when his sister, Nneka, writes him a heartfelt letter of reconciliation. Upon his return, Kambili is confronted by the bitter-sweet memories of his childhood, his estranged relationship with his family, and his affection for his boyhood friend, Ifediora.
Nigeria, 2020, 35m
A Nigerian drama about love, acceptance, rejection, homophobia, and sacrifice. Ìfé and Adaora fall in love over a three-day date.
Sudan / Norway, 2020, 59m
After coming to Norway as a refugee, Ahmed Umar has become a renowned artist. Proud of his roots, his art mixes Sudanese and Western influences. In 2015, he came out as gay on Facebook, making him the first openly gay man from Sudan – this caused massive outrage in the Sudanese community.
Malawi, 2013, 28m
Filmmaker Mwizalero Nyirenda goes on a minibus journey with two friends who have opposing views on same-sex criminalization. They talk to outspoken public figures and everyday Malawians to debate the issue.
USA, 2022, 13m
How Not To Date While Trans is a break-the-fourth-wall, dark comedy that follows the dating life of a Black trans woman and the problematic cis-men she meets along the way.
Kenya, 2020, 1h 9m
Samuel grew up in the Kenyan countryside, where tradition is valued above all else. He is close to his mother but his father, a local pastor, does not understand why he is not married yet.
South Africa, 2010, 48m
Difficult Love is an intimate, thought-provoking portrait of internationally celebrated South African lesbian photographer, Zanele Muholi, and their highly personal take on the challenges facing Black lesbians in South Africa.
UK, 2012, 1h 27m
Stud Life is a light amusing take on Queer street life in London. The film is a post-modern LGBTQIA+ take for the social media generation. Stud Life deals with sex and sexuality and taboo subjects in London’s Queer community.
