“Good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives,” but Kena and Ziki long for something more. Despite the political rivalry between their families, the girls resist and remain close friends, supporting each other to pursue their dreams in a conservative society. When love blossoms between them, the two girls will be forced to choose between happiness and safety.
Against all odds, Ziki and Kena fall in love in Nairobi. In doing so, they must deal with the scrutiny of their community as they come into their sexuality, and navigate the forces that refuse to recognize their relationship. Director Wanuri Kahiu celebrates queer existence in Kenya, while also acknowledging the oppressive realities of queerness. Rafiki, a word that also means ‘friend’ in Swahili, is seminal in the inquiry of queer lives in Africa. It sets the stage and establishes the language and required audacity for these stories as they continue to emerge.
Kika Memeh & Ogheneofegor Obuwoma, FOCUS Curators
Presented by
Samantha Mugatsia, Sheila Munyiva, Jimmi Gathu, Nini Wacera, Dennis Musyoka, Patricia Amira
Kenya
2018
In English and Swahili with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Tim Headington
Producer
Steven Markovitz
Screenwriter
Wanuri Kahiu, Jenna Bass
Cinematography
Christopher Wessels
Editor
Isabelle Dedieu
Production Design
Arya Lalloo
Wanuri Kahiu
Born in Nairobi, Wanuri is part of the new generation of African storytellers. Her stories and films have received international acclaim. Her films screened in numerous film festivals around the world. Rafiki (2018) is her second feature film and was the first Kenyan film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival. She is the co-founder of AFROBUBBLEGUM, a media company that supports, creates and commissions fun, fierce and frivolous African art.
Filmography: From a Whisper (2008); Pumzi (2009); Look Both Ways (2022)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Beatlemania! Get Back Unplugged
Offering a new take on late Beatles' songs, Get Back Unplugged isn't a tribute band, it's a folky, bluesy, jazzy reinterpretation by six top flight musicians from various fields. After the live music set, enjoy the Beatles first worldwide box office smash, A Hard Day's Night.
Cover-Up
Oscar-winner Laura Poitras and Emmy-winner Mark Obenhaus turn their lens on legendary journalist Seymour Hersh in a riveting film that unpacks how one reporter exposed the truths behind My Lai and Abu Ghraib — and what it takes to hold power to account.
Image: © The New York Times
Orwell: 2+2=5
Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck reimagines 1984 in this urgent essay on power, language, and control. With narration by Damian Lewis, it’s a chilling portrait of how Orwell’s warnings became our reality.
The Baltimorons
An early Xmas present and the rom-com of the year: a dental emergency on Christmas Eve brings together flailing comedian Chris and cynical divorcee Didi for a series of low-key urban misadventures.
