Call Me Kuchu

Year: 2012
Country: USA, UGANDA
Run Time: 87 minutes

CALL ME KUCHU is a powerful film about the resilience of the Ugandan LGBT community in the face of official discrimination. Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda, though Parliament has recently retreated on an anti-homosexuality bill that called for the death penalty. The film introduces us to gay rights advocates including David Kato, who sued a newspaper that called for the execution of gays, publishing individuals' names and photographs. We see religious fundamentalists like Lou Engle, an American in Uganda spreading the word about the homosexual agenda. Amidst all the emotional carnage, one hero emerges: Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, a jovial man in an oversized suit, who counsels the LGBT community and organizes a safe house for his congregants. During a brief moment of levity they stage a fashion show. But when an activist is killed, the clergyman presiding over his funeral condemns the gay mourners. They march off with the casket, determined to take care of their own. CALL ME KUCHU is a cry from the heart. (In English and Luganda with subtitles) – B.B.

• Tweet