Nigeria has made its first lesbian documentary. The new documentary film, Under the Rainbow, was created with the aim of contributing to the promotion of awareness and acceptance of LGBTQ in a nation where living openly as gay continues to be highly unacceptable and a secret struggle.
The film, written and produced by LGBTQ rights activist Pamela Adie, was shot by award-winning Nollywood Director Asurf Oluseyi who directed the exciting and groundbreaking queer shortfilm Hell or High Water.
This film is a documentary made for LGBTQ persons living in Africa. It was screened at the residence of the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos amongst Nollywood actors, media entrepreneurs, human rights activists and several high-profile Nigerians.
Adie disclosed that the film was to combat the notion that queer Nigerians don’t exist and to challenge the idea that homosexuality is un-African by demonstrating that it is not a phase or learned behaviour. The documentary is intended to circulate in African contexts and, as Adie states in the film, to “create awareness and accelerate acceptance.”
She stressed that the film was made to contribute to the ongoing conversations about Nigerian lesbians whose human rights are dented and often excluded from conversations about equal rights in the country.
The film will be screening in Accra, Ghana on Friday, July 26th with more screenings set for Lagos and Abuja.
See photos below
