Lesbian film Rafiki has shattered box office records in Kenya – after a government ban was lifted for one week only.
The lesbian love story from director Wanuri Kahiu debuted to international acclaim at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but the film was banned in its home country after state censors took exception to the “homosexual” themes.
Under Academy Awards rules, submissions to the Best Foreign Language
Film category “must be first released in the country submitting it… and
be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a
commercial motion picture theater.”
The film is now again banned in the country, following the end of the
seven-day exemption – but in a final humiliation for state media
censors, it was revealed that the film dominated the country’s box
office in the period it was released.
Rafiki was the top performing film in Kenya for the week it was unbanned, edging out major Hollywood blockbusters The Nun and Night School.
The film grossed more than $33,000 in its week of release, with more than 6,500 tickets sold.
The start of the film was greeted by raucous applause at screenings,
while the crowds “laughed and booed” at the logo of the Kenya Film
Classification Board—the body that suppressed its release.
The re-imposed ban makes it an offence to even own a copy of the film in the country.
I am honestly so fucking tired of people writing posts after posts about there being no films staring Gay Men of Color. There are tons of them dating all the way back for decades. You people are just fucking lazy.
You want these movies just handed to you on a platter, well that’s not how it works. They exist and you can watch them any time.
You can’t complain about white films only getting renown and attention when you refused to spend the bare minimum to support, watch, or promote films staring gay men of color.
Macho Dancer (1988)
Tongues Untied (1989)
Young Souls Rebel (1991)
Anthem (1993)
Farewell My Concubine (1993)
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)
Happy Together (1997)
The River (1997)
Pusong Mamon (1998)
Hold you tight (1998)
Punks (2000)
Lan Yu (2001)
Proteus (2003)
Brother to Brother (2004)
Formula 17 (2004)
Star Appeal (2004)
Chicken Tikka Masala (2005)
The King and the Clown (2005)
Boy culture (2006)
No Regret (2006)
RagTag (2006)
Blueprint (2007)
Soshite, Harukaze ni Sasayaite (2007)
Pleasure Factory (2007)
All of my life (2008)
Antique (2008)
City without Baseball (2008)
A Frozen Flower (2008)
Noah’s Arc, Jumping the Broom (2008)
Boy (2009)
Soundless Windchime
Bashment (2010)
Fit (2010)
KickfOff (2011)
Lost in Paradise (2011)
My Brother the Devil (2012)
Mixed Kebab (2012)
One Night and Two Days (2012)
The Skinny (2012)
Speechless (2012)
Leave it on the Floor (2013)
La Partidoa (2013)
Peyote (2013)
My Bromance (2014)
Night Flight (2014)
The Way He Looks (2004)
Yo Soy la Felicidad de esta Mundo (2014)
Blackbird (2015)
The Blue Hour (2015)
Fire Song (2015)
How to Win at Checkers (Every-time) (2015)
Loev (2015)
Naz and Maalik (2015)
Thanatos, Drunk (2015)
2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten (2016)
Front Cover (2016)
Moonlight (2016)
The Pass (2016)
God’s Own Country (2017)
Method (2017)
The Wound (2017)
I am Happiness on Earth (2018)
And there’s a lot more whose names I can’t remember. Many from countries that are not the UK or the US.
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