Content
Members of the multi-disciplinary art collective NEST spent several months travelling Kenya
collecting stories of young LGBTI people – stories about their experiences and their lives in a country
that is still extremely homophobic. Based on countless anonymous interviews, they developed five
screenplays for short films which provide an insight into the current situation and the problems of
these sexually marginalised young people. These short, unadorned scenes are presented by director
Jim Chuchu in crisp, poetic black-and-white images and accompanied by a measured soundtrack.
The episodes, which address topics such as the search for identity and self-determination, enforced
heterosexualisation and the struggle for acceptance, have one thing in common: they all describe
the need for love and the fear of fulfilling this love openly. Time and again, their fears prompt the
question: it is better to hide away, resign oneself to the situation and leave the country, or to stay and
fight openly for sexual diversity? In spite of the film being banned from public screenings in Kenya,
the members of NEST have opted for the latter and are determined to continue their struggle for
recognition.
Gallery
Credits
- Production company
- The Nest
- Original title
- Stories of our Lives