Banned in Kenya, Wanuri Kahiu’s tale of two teenagers’ in a secret relationship is a fine – if conventional – depiction of the first flush of love
Wanuri Kahiu’s lesbian teen romance boasts the sort of bona fides that are proving valuable in this most politicized edition of Cannes. The first Kenyan film to be selected for the festival, Rafiki has since been banned by the country’s film classification board “due to its homosexual theme and clear intent to promote lesbianism in Kenya contrary to the law and dominant values of the Kenyans”.
That sort of hyperventilating advance warning might lead some to expect something more transgressive than the sweet if rather contrived drama served up here. Yet, in a nation where no constitutional protections exist for LGBTQ people and sodomy carries a 14-year term sentence, even the most routine of gay dramas is an act of remarkable risk-taking. Kahiu’s film carries it off with confidence and polish.