Stories of Our Lives

The latest installment in our on-going African Cinema Now series is subtitled Our Queer Lives and invites us to consider the aesthetics and framework by which queer African stories reach us.

Stories of Our Lives (62 mins) documents personal stories of lovers, fighters and rebels and the community histories that characterize the queer experience in Kenya.

+ Ìfé ( Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim, Nigeria, 2020) 38 min

The tenderness of Ife and Adaora’s fraught first date — turn three — is a beautiful reminder of the simplicity of falling in love. This short resonates deeply with many people who’ve experienced the quiet intimacy of opening up to another.

Curators’ statement:

We were taken by how the simplicity of the style was a tool through which the viewer is invited to empathize and become a part of the journeys shared. The starkness of the black and white draws your attention to the character and the internal world that continues to shape them and their decisions. Nest Collectives’ extensive oral research into the lives of queer Kenyans introduced five unique experiences.

Akojo Film Collective

This is a beautiful little film about love, about humanity, about one of the many facets of what it means to be African.

Zeba Blay, Blavity

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.

Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight

Community Partner

UBC Africa Awareness Initiative