Entertainment
Producer of LGBTQ+ documentary ‘deeply saddened’ as film is banned in Kenya
I Am Samuel follows a man struggling with his sexuality in rural Kenya (Picture: Mosaic Films)
Documentary I Am Samuel, about a Kenyan man struggling with his sexuality, has been banned by the Kenya Film Classification Board.
The board described the film as ‘a clear and deliberate attempt by the producer to promote same-sex marriage as an acceptable way of life’.
It also claimed it was ‘demeaning of Christianity as two gay men in the film purport to conduct a religious marriage invoking the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’.
One of the film’s producers, Toni Kamau, has criticised the decision, saying he was ‘deeply saddened by the discriminatory language used by the government to describe the experiences of people who allowed us into their lives’.
According to The Guardian he continued: ‘We believe that this is a bigger conversation about freedom of expression.
‘Everyone has the right to share their lived experience, their truth. We love character-driven documentaries that give insight into people’s lived experiences.
‘What does it mean to be a Kenyan religious man in a country that criminalises your love? We thought that it was important to share this story because it is a Kenyan story.’
Shot over the course of five years the central figure in I Am Samuel moves away from his strict and unaccepting rural Kenya to find acceptance in the capital of Nairobi.
In Kenyan law, a person can be imprisoned for up to 14 years if they ‘have carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature’ under what it terms ‘unnatural offences’.
Director Pete Murimi shared a statement which said: ‘This film is important because it will allow Kenyans to have constructive dialogue about LGBTQ rights in Kenya.
‘The film demonstrates how much we have in common. We all fall in love, we all contend with family expectations…the biggest difference is, Samuel, our main character had to also reckon with homophobia and violence.
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‘We are very privileged that Samuel invited us into his life and allowed us to share it with the world. We are also grateful to his parents for opening up their home to us.’
The documentary premiered in 2020 at at Canada’s Hot Docs Documentary Festival and has been shown at festivals around the world including the London Film Festival and New York’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival.
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