Stories of Our Lives is an anthology of five short films with LGBT themes from the East African republic of Kenya. It was made by the Nairobi-based art and activist group The Nest Collective, many of whose members prefer to conceal their identities to avoid possible persecution under Kenya’s notoriously draconian anti-gay laws. The film is still banned in it some country. The five dramas are mostly personal and domestic inspired by true incidents. ASK ME NICELY Kate, a rebellious young high school girl, meets first-love Faith, a fellow student. They begin a secret relationship, until the school principal takes action to separate the two by suspending Kate from the school. Back at home, Kate impulsively has a sexual encounter with a boy in her neighborhood. Two weeks later, Kate and Faith have an awkward reunion leading to their separation. RUN After negotiating a business deal, Patrick stumbles upon a local gay bar with his homophobic best friend, Kama. Patrick later returns to the clu...
Every weekend the gay male choir G-Voice rehearses in Seoul – as they have been doing since 2003. The choir, being a kind of antidote to homophobic Korean society, makes the everyday lives of gay men its theme in an intelligent and humorous way. For their tenth anniversary, the members are planning to give their first big concert with ambitious arrangements, creative choreographies and many new pieces. This really puts these amateur singers to the test because the enthusiasm of some members outweighs their vocal abilities, whilst others work themselves into the ground as voluntary organisers. Besides preparing for their big day, G-Voice is also politically active, singing for equality and serenading against discrimination, and not just at LGBTQ demos.
This is the basic premise of the film. But what makes it extremely interesting is the stories of some of its prominent members: right from their childhood, to their dating stories in and out of the choir, their heartbreaks, the general homophobia they have faced and most importantly the amazing friends circle that this group has made who are always there for each other in thick and thin. Almost every single person the crew talks to has an inherent charm from the way they speak and how much they are willing to share. As I mentioned before, A huge kudos to the director of this documentary for succeeding in giving a different perspective of gay men in South Korea. Some of the music sequences have been directed in a filmy way which makes watching them very pleasant. We see them rehearsing, chit chatting over meals etc. Filmed in the style of glossy music videos, G-Voices’ set-pieces provide a commentary, among other things, on the men’s experiences of Korean society, their conservative families and a gay joy of life. But as I mentioned before, for some reason the same novelty that drew me into this film in the beginning very soon started to wear off. This could be just me personally butI feel a tighter and shorter duration of the documentary could have had a more successful story. (5.5/10)
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