Rafiki

Your dad and my dad are rivals, is it Okay for us to be friends? This is the first question confronting Kena and Ziki in Rafiki. Their fathers are rival candidates in the upcoming election. But the initial attraction between the skateboard riding, soccer playing Kena and Ziki with her huge earrings and pink and blue dreds, moves onto kissing. Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya and the local pastor regularly preaches against it, so coming out as a lesbian is dangerous. But the two girls can't keep away from each other.

Rafiki is a simple story set in a colourful Nairobi suburb. The passion the two girls have for each other is communicated by their recklessness. The charm of the film is not only stubbornness of Kena contrasting with the flirty Ziki but also the colourful exotic setting (to non-Africans) but also the directness and emotional expressiveness of the dialogue. I was left with slight disappointment at the end at how little plot there was, a feeling of is-that-all-there-is? But remember that this is an issue film which wants to communicate is message in a positive feel-good way rather than a complex drama.

The film is adapted from a Ugandan short story and has been banned in Kenya.

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Ian's rating 3.5/5 Anne's rating 3/5