Screening & Discussion #HRWNairobiFilmFest: Call me Kuchu, Nov 23 2012 @ Alliance

Date: November 23, 2012
Venue: Alliance Francaise Auditorium
Time: 6.30 pm

Directors: Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Country – US, 2012, Duration 87 minutes, In English and Luganda with English subtitles

In an office on the outskirts of Kampala, veteran activist David Kato labors to repeal Uganda’s homophobic laws and liberate his fellow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women, or “kuchus.” But Kato’s formidable task just became more difficult. A new “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” proposes the death penalty for HIV-positive gay men and prison for anyone who fails to turn in a known homosexual. Kato is one of the few who dare to publicly protest the country’s government and media. Working with a dedicated group of fellow activists, he fights for Kampala’s kuchus on Ugandan television, at the United Nations, and in the courts. Because, he insists, “if we keep on hiding, they will say we are not here.”

With unprecedented access, Call Me Kuchu examines the astounding courage and determination required to battle an oppressive government, a vicious media and a powerful church in the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

Discussants: Pepe Julian Onziema (Sexual Minorities Uganda), Jackson Otieno (GALCK), John “Longjones” Wambere (Spectrum Uganda Initiatives), and Jane Wothaya (Gay Kenya Trust)

Screening & Discussion #HRWNairobiFilmFest: Love Crimes of Kabul, Nov 22 2012 @ Alliance

Date: November 22, 2012
Venue: Alliance Française Auditorium
Time: 6.30 pm

Love Crimes of Kabul, In Dari & Pashto with English Sub-titles, 71 minutes, Tanaz Eshaghian

Jailed for running away from home to escape abuse, for allegations of adultery, and other “moral crimes,” the women of Afghanistan’s Badum Bagh prison band together to fight for their freedom. Love Crimes of Kabul follows three young prisoners as they go to trial, revealing the pressures and paradoxes women in Afghanistan face today, and the dangerous consequences of refusing to fit into society’s norms. Their defiant actions come to be seen as threats to the very fabric of society, and their acts of self-determination as illegal. Will life outside prison enable these women to experience the freedom they desire?
Filmmaker Tanaz Eshaghian brings us into the lives of these “outsiders,” and we watch as teenage romantics learn to become steely-eyed negotiators in an effort to secure their future, brokering their freedom with courage, charm, and skill.

Discussants: Ann Njogu (CREAW), Dorothy Ogutu (African Sex Worker Network) and Judy Okal (Center for Reproductive Rights)