Queer film in Africa is rising – even in countries with the harshest anti-LGBTIQ+ laws

A recent book, Queer Bodies in African Films, studies the growing LGBTIQ+ output from film-makers around the continent, from Morocco to South Africa.

In the process it analyses what queerness is and means within the context of African countries. Its author, Gibson Ncube, is a lecturer and scholar who focuses his research on queerness in African cultural production – from literature to films. We asked him four questions.

Is there a growing queer representation in films from African countries?

Yes, the last decade has seen a proliferation of these films. Nigeria’s Nollywood has produced a considerable body of films portraying queer lived experiences. Although most of these experiences remain largely formulaic and moralistic, there have been films like the 2020 lesbian love story Ife which offer positive images of queerness in Nigeria.

With its long history of queer representation in film, South Africa continues to produce work that