Rafiki (12A)

2018, directed by Wanuri Kahiu, 83 minutes

To us, this film is an uncontroversial and modest love story between two young women whose fathers are standing against each other for a place in the country’s governing assembly. But same-sex relationships in Kenya are illegal (a British colonial legacy) and screening the film was banned in Kenya. As such it provides a new context for a familiar story, a small window to another place and one of a scarce number of films from Africa to get distribution in the West.

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Film notes (paper copies available at the screening)

Tickets (£5 adults, £3 children) available on the door, but it may be busy so you are advised to book in advance with the Buxton Opera House box office

On the 27th we’re showing the gripping Styx about a lone yachtswoman who gets caught up in the migrant crisis. We’ve now confirmed our programme for September – we’ve got a story of intense love on 2nd September: Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love. From Columbia we have the moving Birds of Passage, the story of the Wayuu people and how they got caught up in the drugs trade. That’s on 9th September and the following week we have Bill Nighy as the Scrabble-obsessed wordsmith in Sometimes Always Never. You can find our full programme on the diary page.