A modern-day Romeo and Juliet (without the tragic ending), Rafiki tells the story of Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva), young women who fall in love despite their fathers being rival politicians.
While the storytelling alone is groundbreaking for Kenya, the events that ensued once the film was released were just as impactful.
Originally banned by the homophobic head of Kenya’s Film Classification Board, Ezekiel Mutua, because he alleged it would “promote lesbianism,” the film enjoyed massive audiences when the ban was lifted for a brief time in order to make it eligible for the foreign-language Oscar Award.
But the lift of the ban came only because of Kahiu’s fierce determination in the face of discrimination. She took the Film Classification Board to court and won a seven-day reprieve from the ban. The board chose to submit a different film for Oscar consideration, but Rafiki, with its sold-out audiences, still won in its own way.
“For many Kenyans, viewing Rafiki may be the first step toward building more empathy and acceptance of LGBT people.
That will ultimately benefit all Kenyans — apart from those who seek to instrumentalize homophobia to gain political relevance,” Neela Ghoshal, senior LGBTQ rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, wrote in The Advocate.
