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...
The story is simple. Set in countryside we see Mike who works in a small farm and has his close friend Dan working for him. Mike is obviously attracted to Dan and it seems Dan returns the favor. But Dan is to satisfied being and living at the far, . He is a drifter and wants to travel but Mike seems content. We meet Gary, a young teenage boy who lives in the neighborhood with his abusive stepfather who beats him and his brother regularly. Gary is drawn to the camaraderie of the young farmhands in part to avoid his problems at home. When an innocent session of skinny-dipping is misconstrued by the boy's father, the young hired hands soon find themselves unjustly suspected of wrongdoing in a suddenly hostile small town. The boys stepfather suddenly makes everyone on the town believe that two boys are pervert. Mike takes the whole event more seriously and decides it time for him to move on. It's his inability to commit to a longer relationship, once faced with the hostility of the isolated community in which he has found himself, that is central to his film.
The two men spend most of their time half naked working in the farm , hanging out and together making clay objects. The clay work representing images of dwarves, half animal and beast figures, and a large feminine figure with the head of a man clearly spells out the characters’ perception of themselves as possible bisexual beings at home in bodies. As much as the film is about the two men, it is more about the town's silence or indifference to the abuse given the neighbor to his step son and wife. Mike even notices marks on the boy’s body clearly from abuse, and tells Gary that if his father even touches him again to come to them, a statement representing the very kind of offer which Dan has warned him previously can only lead to problems. You can tell from a mile where the story is headed and what can possibly happen. So as much as the film is interesting, it is also frustrating to watch because it never rally address ether the sexuality issue or the abuse issue head-on. This could have been a story about a couple of young gay guys trying to make a life working on a farm, or a coming of age story; but it ends up being neither unfortunately. It lacks making a point. As actors, two men do a good job, look good and hot and have good chemistry. Surely times were different then, but it's a story that could have been so much more than what it gives. (4.5/10)
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