Queer education through film

Gamalakhe residents had the chance to enjoy over three films free of charge at the Gamalakhe ZG Hall courtesy of Kasi-2-Kasi Queer Cinema (K2KQC).

K2KQC is a celebratory information-sharing gathering, which screens a variety of queer films and documentaries to educate, challenge and reflect on the lives of the marginalised communities of the country, continent and the world.

K2KQC collaborated with Mlondi Mkhize of the Youth In Conversation to showcase the films.
According to Nhlanhla Ndaba of K2KQC, the festival aimed to portray the richness and diversity of the queer community and culture, its experiences and challenges, with hopes to strengthen society’s’ engagement with the queer community.

He said people who attended the film festival got to watch films such as Valley of A Thousand Hills by Bonie Sithebe which is about a young woman who comes from a conservative village who must choose between living a lie to remain as the perfect Zulu daughter, or risk her life for true love.

“The film, Mjita Wam by Anathi Siyungu follows a young boy Ziki who is at the park by himself. A boy named Junior, also by himself having a cigarette caught his attention, just when Ziki was about to light his cigarette, he decided to put his lighter in his pocket and approached Junior, any excuse to interact with Junior. Denis by Zoey Black, which is a documentary that focuses on medical and legal issues facing intersex and transgender people in South Africa, and the ongoing human rights struggles that continue to position the community as second-class citizens, and other films,” said Ndaba.

He added that K2KQC is not a space where only queer-identifying people meet to watch and discuss films and issues that are important to their community but it’s a space where parents, families, friends and allies of queer people are provided with an opportunity to share and learn through participating in film screenings and facilitated discussions.

He said the space was aimed at educating communities about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Queer (LGBTIQ) community to create communities that have a deeper understanding of sexuality versus gender.

“We believe that educating our communities is key in fighting the scourge of hate crimes and gender-based violence with a focus on the LGBTIQ+ community,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mkhize of Youth In Conversation said the collaboration with K2KQC was good for the South Coast.
He said having a queer film and documentary festival is good, more so because it was held in a township where a lot of hate crimes happen.

“At the festival, children from as young as six years old were in attendance. It was good for them to see these films because they are hardly shown on television. When they saw those things, for them it was a culture shock. During the festival, there were also discussions on producing animated films for children. More so because being gay does not start when you are older. Queer kids or kids who are still trying to find themselves do face difficulties like being bullied in townships,” said Mkhize.

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