MQFF: Rafiki

Rafiki, directed by Kenyan film director Wanuri Kahiu, is a revolutionary film, not in the least because of its ubiquitous controversies. Premiering at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival – the first Kenyan film to ever be selected for the festival – the film was subsequently banned in its native Kenya for “legitimising” lesbianism. But Rafiki and its legitimising of lesbianism make it a truly vital film.

Set in Nairobi, the film tells the love story between Kena (played by Samantha Mugatsi) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva), though the film’s narrative is crafted through Kena’s perspective. Kena is an introverted young woman, who spends her time working in her father’s shop, tending to her mother’s every whim, and hanging out with her two gormless friends Blacksta (Nevile Misati) and Waireri (Charlie Karumi). Early on in the film, we see the intolerance heaved upon gay people in Kena’s neighbourhood, disturbingly by her two closest friends, when a gay man walks past them: homophobic slurs thrown as punchlines, and Kena’s discomfort is obvious. She likely knows already that she is gay, and how difficult this would make her life in Nairobi.

Kena’s father John Mwaura is campaigning for a local election; Ziki’s father Peter Okemi (Dennis Musyoka) is campaigning as his rival, and Kena and Ziki first meet after she spots Ziki and her friends vandalising and tearing down John Mwaura’s campaign posters. They shouldn’t meet up, but they do: intrigued by each other obviously from the get go. If there’s any pretence to their relationship, it is abandoned when, after hanging out together on a sunny afternoon explicit in romantic comedy tropes (they even go paddle boating), Ziki turns to Kena and says, “I want to go on a real date.” Quickly, their friendship is clearly revealed to each other as a courtship, and their first kiss is as breathless for the audience as it is for them.

Though, of course, their happiness, in the face of their country’s intolerance, cannot last. Still to this day, Kenya does not recognise same sex relationships as lawful, and same sex marriage is banned under the Kenyan Constitution. In Rafiki, scenes of Kena’s friends’ easy homophobia, and the church minister rhapsodising on the sin of homosexuality, urge a stark and still pulsing reality into the fore. Although a fictional story, it reminds you that young women like Kena and Ziki would face the same obstacles in modern-day Kenya. However, for those of you concerned about an upsetting film experience, rest assured that there is a hopeful, romantic ending for the two women.

Not in the least for its censorship in its home country (Kenya temporarily lifted its ban on the film so it could qualify for the Academy Awards; the country’s only screening was a sell-out), Rafiki is an urgent, and important film. Though it treads on well-trod territory of first love and exploration, the film is rooted in its characters’ struggle to transcend the confines of their lot and it is an emotional one. If you see any film this year at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, make sure it’s this one.

Rafiki
Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2019
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