In a country that criminalises the existence of members of the LGBTQ+ community, it is hard to imagine that queerness was and is a huge part of Nigerian society. Consequently, the need for personal stories of lived queer experiences have never been more crucial in challenging erasure and falsehoods directed at the LGBTQ+ community. Nigerian film maker and storyteller Simisolaoluwa Akande recognizes the need for queer existence to be documented and has begun work on a documentary that seeks to connect personal queer histories to a broader Nigerian queer history and culture.
We caught up with Simi about her film and the issues the documentary would be highlighting.
“I am hoping to examine my understanding of what queerness is” she says. “Beyond sexuality and gender but as a way of being and relating to the world that is very intrinsically Nigerian, specifically a pre colonial Nigerian existence.”
Can you talk about the issues The Archive: Queer Nigerian Project would address and your motivation to highlight these issues
Simi: The Archive is trying to address this tension that often exists between our cultural heritage and our queer identities as queer black people, specifically queer Africans. It is trying at conversations about how we can begin the journey of reconciliation, so our Nigerianess does not feel so desperate and separate from our queerness.
My motivation to do this project stems from my desire for community. I am searching for friendships and I need this conversation for myself as well, to hear that other people are possibly going through similar conflicts or that maybe they have found a way to rise above it.
Who are the characters of your documentary and what connects you to them and Nigerian queer history and culture as a whole?
Simi: I have welcomed every and all queer Nigerians based in London. Initially I wanted this project to be based in Nigeria but I quickly realised I do not have the infrastructure and experience to execute such a demanding project in Nigeria. I recognized that doing this project in Nigeria would mean asking people to put their lives at risk to participate and I do not have enough resources to provide them safety. So I decided to start here where I live and I hope for a larger project in the future that involves Nigerians in Nigeria.
I don’t know a lot of the people I am working with on this project but the beauty of it all is the possibility of forging bonds and hopefully finding community with them.
What do you hope your documentary adds to the conversation and representation of queer lives in Nigeria?
Simi: I recognize that the experiences of Nigerians in the diaspora and the homeland are different but I hope the documentary widens the community of queer Nigerians and lets our siblings back home know that we are out here too and we are hopefully building something together. I think that once the knowledge of queer Nigerian history becomes popularized and the understanding of queerness begins to expand, maybe we can slowly begin to realize the queerness in all of us. I think it is time for Nigerians to recognize that we are not the west, we have our own ways of life, understanding and community which we should be allowed to explore.
