DOXA 2015 review: Stories of Our Lives
With an artful and intimate touch, director Jim Chuchu beautifully gives voice to the lives of gay and lesbian Kenyans in this omnibus film, shot in black-and-white.
Themes range from the familiar to the culturally specific. There’s betrayal: a high-school lesbian couple is divided by societal pressures; unrequited love: a gay man falls for a straight best friend; gay-bashing: buddies turn into enemies when one visits a gay club; interracial issues: a Kenyan researcher hooks up with a white male sex-worker for the first time; and persecution: a lesbian couple fantasizes about how to deal with an encroaching LGBT witch-hunt.
While some stories may be predictable or lack an adequate denouement, they all remind viewers of the ominpresent struggles that queer Kenyans call daily life.
Vancity, May 9 (9:15 p.m.)
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