Thus far this year, we’ve seen 2 relatively high-profile documentaries on LGBTQ rights in Uganda – Roger Ross Williams’ God Loves Uganda and Call Me Kuchu from filmmakers Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall.
I’ve been alerted to an upcoming new documentary that will tackle similar matters, but this time, in a country northwest of Uganda – Nigeria.
It comes from New York-based director Habeeb Lawal, who shot the film in Nigeria, which takes on the country’s proposed anti-gay bill and the people it ultimately affects.
Titled Veil of Silence, here’s an official synopsis:
On the brink of an impending law that could re-write their destinies, young groups of sexual minorities in Nigeria defy all odds in the pursuit of happiness. In the midst of all, their strength, resilience, vulnerability are brought to fore in this informative and mind-blowing documentary.
Habeeb says the doc will be released in 2014, via VOD. Although with what seems like *new* western interest in the lives of Africa’s LGBTQ population, Veil of Silence just might attract the kind of attention that will see it released via some higher platform, like a theatrical release, which both God Loves Uganda and Call Me Kuchu have received.
A few of the many men and women who appear in the documentary as themselves, sharing their personal experiences and opinions on the subject, include Ayo Sogunro, Ifeanyi Orazuike, Dorothy Aken’ova, Abayomi Aka, and Valentine Crown Tunbi.
While we wait to learn and see more of the film, here’s an early look at it, via a trailer and poster, Habeeb forwarded to me:
Veil Of Silence Official Trailer from Habeeb Lawal on Vimeo.
