Learn More Series Film Screening & Post-Film Conversation: Rafiki

Join us for a screening of Rafiki, a breakthrough queer coming-of-age film based in Kenya, along with an after-film discussion with Associate Professor Jennifer DeClue of Smith College and filmmaker Thato Mwosa. Rafiki centers around the growing romance between two young women living in Nairobi, facing backlash from their community due to homosexuality being illegal in Kenya. The title Rafiki is the Swahili term for “friend.” Samantha Mugatsia, who plays protagonist Kena of Rafiki, won the Best Actress award at the FESPACO film festival, or the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, in 2019.

Jennifer DeClue is an Associate Professor of the Study of Women & Gender at Smith College who specializes in studies pertaining to Black feminism, Queer of color critique, popular culture, the avant-garde, and film studies. Thato Mwosa is an award-winning illustrator, playwright, screenwriter, writer, director, and lecturer for Boston University’s Film and Television department.