Country: USA / Uganda
Review: In Uganda, Kuchu means queer, a word that has to be pronounced carefully due to the numerous threats and dangers that these people are exposed to. This documentary serves the purpose to denounce the persecutions made to LGBT people, at the same time that exposes the absurdity of a new bill against homosexuality created by David Bahati, an ultra-conservative politician. With this bill approved, the consequences of being gay in this extremist and problematic African country would be life imprisonment and death penalty for aggravated cases. Several testimonies and horrific stories of aggression and suffering are presented through many characters, including important contributions of LGBT activists with special emphasis on David Kato, the first openly gay man in Uganda, barbarously murdered for being a fighter of the cause. The editor manager of Rolling Stone, a local newspaper was for me the most shocking character, whose greatest joy was to publicly denounce gays through publishing their pictures, compromising their safety by inviting to hate and homophobia. His dull smile doesn’t hide the evil in him. Some other scenes show the battles in court, and religious fundamentalism expressed in many different ways. “Call Me Kuchu” was well edited by Katherine Fairfax Wright, using objective forms to express a complex matter, and making us realize that even the African vivid colors become pale with such limitations of the mind.
