There are a lot of stories centered around queer rights all over Africa and while a lot of people will refuse to admit that the idea of anything that isn’t heterosexuality is colonial jargon, people are living and thriving all over the continent. Some of these stories are just more out there while compared to the other. Last year saw the birth of Wanuri Kahiu’s absolutely intelligent film ‘Rafiki’ which was banned in her home country, Kenya but met critical acclaim around other parts of the world. Likewise, Inxeba or The Wound as it is more commonly referred to is a South African film directed by John Trengove. The film opened at the Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival in 2017 and screened at Sundance the same year.
Inxeba tells the story of a closeted relationship between two men: Xolani, who is a factory worker and Vija, his married lover. Both men only have the opportunity to see one another once a year at the Xhosa initiation ritual of Ulwaluko where they serve as mentors to the young boys who undergo the ceremony. For Xolani who is more expressive, it is an opportunity to meet Vija who is the love of his life and he looks forward to it – if not for anything, to rekindle his romantic relationship. Vija, on the other hand, is the perfect example of internalized homophobia, a tad weird considering the fact that he willingly has these sexual encounters with Vija. There’s a bit of tension between Xolani and Vija when the former is selected to mentor Kwanda, another gay man who quickly realizes the nature of the relationship between his mentor and Vija and doesn’t help but say the truth, even when he isn’t supposed to.
As a gay man, Inxeba left me with so many questions, some of which I’m a bit unsure of till now. I started off asking myself why Xolani was particularly after Vija, a man who was very unsure of his identity and to add to his list of baggages, internalized homophobia. I totally understand that we should not be judged by who we love but it seemed so out of place to me, especially because he knew Vija was unable to provide him with what he wanted but he was willing and ready to persist on nonetheless with this half love he got from him. Also, it re-enforced the fact that society will forever be a problem to queer people and we need to constantly find ways to do our things the way we want them. I cannot say for sure but I don’t think it will be a far reach to assume that Vija would have been a different man if it wasn’t for the society he found himself in. He liked Xolani at least, because he was willing to fight for him when people said ills against him. He, however, just seemed to enjoy the macho man narrative and was fully ready to do anything to protect this image people had of him, even if it meant killing a human being. Last but not the least, I asked myself how far can internalized homophobia go? In the movie, even the gay characters are not left out of this narrative and it’s a lot of thought to unpack really.
Above all, Inxeba was a deliciously good watch. The actors were absolutely brilliant in their local language and the stills were just great. Everything about it seems very authentic and while it may anger a few mostly due to the mildly raunchy scenes, it opens room for a lot of conversation around the LGBT community – most of which we actually need.
Steve Potter is a writer and communications specialist based in Lagos.
