The director of a Kenyan lesbian film, which debuted at Cannes Film Festival May, says her home country has threatened her with arrest.
Rafiki, which means friend in Swahili, is about two Kenyan girls who became lovers. The movie was banned in the African country after director Wanuri Kahiu reportedly declined to censor parts of the film.
According to report, the director said in an interview that the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB), a government body that regulates movies in the country, has threatened her with arrest.
“It seems like they are trying to build a case to imprison me… Most recently I saw them tweeting that I have broken the law,” she said.
Kahiu further stated that she knew the film might be banned, before adding: “What we didn’t expect was the threat of arrest to me.”
Despite this, the director suggested she would make similar films in the future.
“I am an artiste and it’s my constitutional right to make this film. So I would do it again, and I would do it again, and I would do it again,” Kahiu said.
“I won’t stop doing my work because other people are trying to violate my right. I think it’s for them to deal with their violations.
“If they want they can arrest me and we can go to court to prove I haven’t broken the law. But I am going home. It’s where I live. I am not going to hide, I am not going into exile.
“My family is there, my children are there, my husband is not about to leave. It’s a place that inspires me, that I make films for, the place that I make films about.”
Kahiu told the BBC at Cannes that she was “incredibly sad” the movie had been banned.
“We truly hoped the Kenya Film Classification Board would respect our right as creators to express ourselves,” she said.
