Unrated, 1 hr. 27 min.
Documentary, Drama, Special Interest
Directed By: Katherine Fairfax Wright , Malika Zouhali-Worrall
In Theaters: Jun 14, 2013 Limited
Box Office:$3.2k
Cinedigm - Official Site
Call Me Kuchu is a beautiful documentary that explores the struggles of the LGBT community in Uganda, a country where homophobia is rampant and violence against homosexuals is all too common. CMK is a story of courage and love. In the face of mounting physical threats, a few Ugandan's are willing to stand up for what they believe in, even if it means harm. While the film centers around the rights of the LGBT community in Uganda, the story's underlying dynamics are packed with parables that can be applied almost anywhere. Call Me Kuchu will more then likely leave you with tears, so I'd recommend bringing tissue into the theater.
Call Me Kuchu masterfully succeeds in opening the world of the previously closeted African LGBT community and is a riveting examination of the consequences of intolerance. Skillfully blending a highly personal journey into the lives of others with a journalist's overview of a world skewed by irrational fears and religious fervor, the film reveals how little has been learned from historical lessons of oppression. The central protagonist of the story, David Kato, becomes a lightning rod of attacks from American fundamentalist preachers and smug Nationalist homophobes. After he is bludgeoned to death in his bed, friends and family struggle with how, or even if, their fight for civil rights can continue. The parallels with other such battles are eerie, but the success of many of these past struggles leave the viewer hopeful that good will eventually triumph in this battle as well.
Call me Kuchu manages to simultaneously convey the horrific violence and injustice facing Uganda's LGBT community, and the resilient, lighthearted spirit of the individuals within it. The film's beautiful cinematography and skillful storytelling bring to light issues of poverty, fear, religion, and humanity. I continue to talk about this film with my friends and family since seeing it over a month ago. One of the best things you can do to combat the complicated and tragic circumstances that homosexuals face in Uganda, or for that matter in our own country, is to see this film and encourage others to do the same!
I had vaguely remembered that a gay activist had been killed in Uganda, but didn't realise until the event in the movie that this man, David Kato, who I had been getting to know and empathising with, was the same one.
But the movie does not dwell on his death, more on his life and struggle and that of those around him. His mother is a beautiful character.
I don't know which was worse, the smug, jokey newspaper editor (it's cheekily called the "Rolling Stone") who took no responsibility for any of the hatred he was stirring up or its consequences, or the smug local church people, or the smug, arrogant American evangelist, bringing American-style bigotry to Uganda.
The Anglican Bishop Christopher Senyonjo is a lovable respite from all this hatred, a Ugandan Desmond Tutu. The scenes at David's funeral, where he rescues the body from a local pastor who wanted to straighten out the LGBTI congregation, are very touching.
And yet, it's the same religion both he and the bigots are in the thrall of, and equally drives them both to do good or evil, almost at random, underlining Christopher Hitchen's catchphrase that religion poisons everything, and Steven Weinberg's, that for good people to do evil, that takes religion.
The courage of the local LGBTI people is amazing. We went through just a tiny fraction of that ordeal 26 years ago, and it seemed bad enough at the time. This movie and the dauntless people in it, packing up and moving on when their lives are endangered, and yet fronting up to courts, hostile crowds, policemen, clergy and thugs (sometimes the same people), will give heart to those who are still struggling.
