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Being at Home with Claude (Canadian French)

By Golu
This one falls into that darker corner of gay cinema. There was real potential buried in here, but the execution feels so flat that at points it plays out more like a filmed stage play than an actual movie. It's a dark psychological drama built around a street hustler confessing to a brutal, confusing murder of his own lover. Black and white flashback sequences do a solid job laying out the details of what happened, but the real focus stays on the dialogue and the writing itself. Right at the start, a young hustler has already killed his male lover Claude. Three days go by before he calls the police to turn himself in for the murder. But instead of just reporting it somewhere ordinary, he actually summons the police and the local press directly into a judge's private chambers. Yves has keys to the place, which tracks given what he does for a living, but having the press waiting right outside makes the whole scene look like some elaborate blackmail scheme against the judge. The ...
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I Am Samuel (Swahili/English) (Documentary)

By Golu
This Kenyan documentary is an example of how few are the stories that we have heard or seen about the marginalized sexual oriented folks from the African continent. Sure, most of the countries there have some very strict laws against homosexuality, but how I wish there were more brave film makers who dare to take a chance. I know, its easier said than done. This documentary chronicles the life of Samuel who lives with his partner Alex and his relationship with his parents.

Filmed over 5 years, we meet Samuel who is in a stable relationship with his boyfriend Alex. But while we ar introduced to them, the scenes of a man being brutally beaten to death are juxtaposed on our screen. This guy was Samuel's friend and we immediately know that this is a brave step for these boys to bring their story to life. Samuel has grown in a small Kenyan village and has slash struggled with his sexuality, until he moved to Nairobi and finds friends and people like him. But family is still important to him. He visits his village to his parents who love him but also want him to get married and have a family. Even though they have met Alex as a friend, they chose to ignore. This dynamic Changs when Samuel officially comes out to his family and the father stops talking to him for a few years. Until his mother again reaches out to him asking to visit. The two boys are met with love and welcome, but probably still as friends. I can't imagine parents suddenly accepting someone like this. But we do see a hopeful ending when Samuel tells us that every prayer in their family starts with recalling all names of family members and now Alex is part of that list.

The documentary is a decent watch. Rather than sensationalizing the whole aspect of beinggay in Africa, the focus here is on queer solidarity and Samuel's life. It tries to show us how gay men possibly live in Nairobi or rural Kenya. We see Samuel and Alex surrounded by supportive queer friends, celebrating their anniversaries and generally just being happy and themselves. It would have been nice to see what's Alex's version as well and how easy or hard it was for him and his family to accept their son too. But nevertheless, it was very interesting to see the love Samuel's parents give him. This documentary is a timely story of perseverance, acceptance, teaching, mundanity, destiny, faith and simple humanity. Its not preachy or educational, but a story that educates you and shows you the humane side of things. It is the kind of African story that shelves being brave in favor of being seen as human by those closest to you and many families need it. (6/10)
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