CULTURE
Queering Carmen
Are you familiar with Karmen Gei? This film by Joseph Gai Ramaka could be considered as much a classic as Ousmane Sembene’s Molaade. Yet, contrary to the latter, Karmen Gei seems to have trouble getting the attention it deserves. With Karmen Gei, Ramaka takes Senegalese cinema to a whole new level by producing, in 2001, the first queer, African and musical adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen. So what exactly is Karmen Gei about and why is it so seldom referenced when talking about classical African cinema?
Stories of Our Lives
We wanted to tell these stories of the queer experience in Kenya that are seldom heard and routinely erased. We were also aware that their collection and telling by Africans, for Africans, was essential.
You Are Not Alone
Based on powerful testimonies of men suffering from depression or having dealt with depression, and interviews with experts in mental health, the film expresses a suffering endured in silence, invisible to their families, as well as in the gay community, and the enabling factors that can lead to risky behavior (drugs, unsafe sex) and even suicide.