Queer African Cinemas

FAIN: DR-288241-22

Duke University (Durham, NC 27705-4677)
Dean J. Smith (Project Director: March 2022 to January 2025)

Green-Simms examines films produced by and about queer Africans in the first two decades of the twenty-first century in an environment of increasing antiqueer violence, efforts to criminalize homosexuality, and other state-sanctioned homophobia. Green-Simms argues that these films not only record the fear, anxiety, and vulnerability many queer Africans experience; they highlight how queer African cinematic practices contribute to imagining new hopes and possibilities. Examining globally circulating international art films as well as popular melodramas made for local audiences, Green-Simms emphasizes that in these films queer resistance—contrary to traditional narratives about resistance that center overt and heroic struggle—is often practiced from a position of vulnerability.

Associated Products

Single Publication (Open Access eBook or Collection)
Publication Type: Single Publication
Title: Queer African Cinemas
Year: 2022
ISBN: 9781478022633
Publisher: Duke University Press
Author: Lindsey B. Green-Simms
Abstract: In Queer African Cinemas, Lindsey B. Green-Simms examines films produced by and about queer Africans in the first two decades of the twenty-first century in an environment of increasing antiqueer violence, efforts to criminalize homosexuality, and other state-sanctioned homophobia. Green-Simms argues that these films not only record the fear, anxiety, and vulnerability many queer Africans experience; they highlight how queer African cinematic practices contribute to imagining new hopes and possibilities. Examining globally circulating international art films as well as popular melodramas made for local audiences, Green-Simms emphasizes that in these films queer resistance—contrary to traditional narratives about resistance that center overt and heroic struggle—is often practiced from a position of vulnerability. By reading queer films alongside discussions about censorship and audiences, Green-Simms renders queer African cinema as a rich visual archive that documents the difficulty of queer existence as well as the potentials for queer life-building and survival.
Primary URL: https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/3025/Queer-African-Cinemas
Primary URL Description: Duke University Press
Secondary URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/99874
Secondary URL Description: Project Muse
Type: Single author monograph

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