Rafiki, introduced by Erin Moore
@ Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637
Opening Thursday, January 23rd, from 7PM - 10PM
Join us for a reception in the screening room lobby (Logan 201) for a reception at 6pm.
Bursting with the colorful street style and music of Nairobi’s vibrant youth culture, Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu’s Rafiki is a tender love story between two young women in a country that still criminalizes homosexuality. Kena and Ziki have long been told that “good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives,” but they yearn for something more. Despite the political rivalry between their families, the girls encourage each other to pursue their dreams in a conservative society. When love blossoms between them, Kena and Ziki must choose between happiness and safety. Initially banned in Kenya for its positive portrayal of queer romance, Rafiki won a landmark supreme court case chipping away at Kenyan anti-LGBT legislation. Featuring remarkable performances by newcomers Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva, Rafiki is a tale of first love that Screen Daily called “reminiscent of the early work of Spike Lee.” Introduced by Erin Moore, who will also lead a discussion.
Anthropologist Erin Moore has been researching gender, sexuality, and feminism in Uganda since 2009, writing on subjects including miniskirt bans, development interventions for adolescent girls, love and deception in Kampala’s sexual economy, and translating global feminisms. Currently based at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, she is investigating the gendered economic history of Uganda’s HIV epidemic.
Presented by the Committee on African Studies, the Film Studies Center, the The Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, the Reproduction of Race and Racial Ideology Workshop, and the Division of Social Sciences.
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