Uganda gay documentary world premiere

The world premiere of "Call me Kuchu," a documentary on the Ugandan LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community, is taking place at the Berlin International Film Festival. It documents the last year in the life of Ugandan gay activist David Kato before he was murdered in January 2011, and also features other activists. Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall, from the US and UK respectively, are the filmmakers of "Call me Kuchu." They spoke with DW about their documentary and about the impact they hope it will have.

DW.DE: Your documentary is called "Call me Kuchu." What does that mean exactly?

Malika Zouhali-Worrall: Kuchu is basically an umbrella term that the community in Uganda use to refer to themselves. It's basically a word that they use all the time to describe each other and themselves. We picked up on it while we were there. It just seems appropriate for the film to be about the idea of them identifying themselves with a name that they basically chose themselves.

When did you start filming the documentary?

Katherine Fairfax Wright: We started researching in late 2009, as a trans[gender] man by the name of Victor Mukasa had won a big court case in the high court in Uganda, granting him his civil rights after his privacy had been infringed upon in a raid. Soon after, the anti-homosexuality bill had been tabled in parliament. So Malika and I were intrigued by those two things happening at the same time. On the one hand they were being granted their rights, and on the other, they were being threatened with having them stripped from them. So we decided to go and start filming in January of 2010.

You were filming when David Kato was murdered. How did that affect you and your film?

Zouhali-Worrall: Well, actually the day David was murdered, we were in New York. We were basically there in the process of planning our next shoot, which we were hoping would be a six-week shoot with David. We realised that we just had to go back immediately. Katy left the next day and I left two days later. I think it came as a complete shock to both of us. We'd known the situation could become very serious for the LGBT community but we never thought it could come down to something like this. And ultimately, it also meant that, as filmmakers, we suddenly realized that our film had become about the last year in David's life.

Do you think that your film will be shown in Uganda or in other African countries which have anti-homosexuality laws?

Fairfax Wright: I think we would like it to be shown, as much as the people involved are comfortable with that taking place, especially considering what's going on in Uganda. We'll probably have to wait to see how things play out a little bit because we don't want it to have a detrimental effect on their movement. If they feel that it could be used as a tool for their advocacy and their work, we'd certainly like for that to happen. But we would like them to be the ones that make that call.

What would you like to achieve with this film? Do you have any specific goal in mind?

Fairfax Wright: We would like to reach as broad an audience as possible. Our goals would shift depending on what demographic we are talking about. In the US, what could be useful in using this film as part of an outreach campaign is the religious aspect because that's something which is less portrayed. The Kuchu community in Uganda for the most part is very Christian, so I think that's an interesting aspect for an American audience to be able to witness and think about. Because it's not a matter of becoming more liberal and forgetting your religious faith, it's a matter of how they live their lives as good Christians and are accepted by their church.

Zouhali-Worrall: Our motivations have evolved beyond just representing the [Ugandan] gay community. International media coverage has portrayed the LGBT community as victims. And things are changing because the community is so strong. This is a story about an organized community of activists. And it is not just a headline but about the long term.

Interview: Chiponda Chimbelu
Editor: Susan Houlton / rm