And Still We Rise (2015, 70 min. documentary)
And Still We Rise (2015, 70 min.) is a moving
documentary on resistance to the Anti-Homosexual Act (AHA) in
Uganda.
The film
follows Richard Lusimbo, researcher & documentation manager for Sexual
Minorities Uganda (SMUG), as he documents the impact of the AHA. The story weaves
together an analysis of the AHA with personal accounts of widespread repression
following passage of the Act: media hate, clinic closures, arrests, human
rights violations and mob violence - including the impact on the filmmakers /
activists, themselves. Following the passage of AHA, Richard was ‘outed’ in the
media. In a moving sequence, Richard travels to his hometown, where family and
friends grapple with the news report.
While much
work on the AHA focuses on the role of US-based evangelical leaders in
fomenting hate in Uganda, And Still We
Rise provides an analysis of intersecting domestic and international forces
underlying this story including an in-depth look at resistance by civil society
in Uganda, lead by SMUG and the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and
Constitutional Law. Nicholas Opiyo (ED Chapter Four Uganda) the lead lawyer in
the constitutional case against the AHA, gives an analysis of the Act in the
context of the post 9/11 assault on civil liberties under an aging Museveni regime. Dr. Silvia Tamali (Law, Makerere University)
deconstructs the myth that ‘homosexuality is Un-African’, citing examples of
same sex practices and diverse gender expression across Africa. Dr. Frank Mugisha (ED, SMUG), Adrian Jjuuko
(ED, Human Rights and Awareness Promotion Forum), Kasha Jacqueline (Freedom and
Roam Uganda), Sam Ganafa (ED Spectrum Uganda) and others describe personal and
organizational impacts.
A story of
courage and resilience, And Still We
Rise was created by people in the midst of the struggle against the
AHA in Uganda, and is an inspiring example of participatory documentary making.
Credits:
Directed by: Richard Lusimbo & Nancy Nicol
Edited by: Junic Wambya & Nancy Nicol
Music Composed & Performed by: Nkyooyo Brian (Brayo Bryans)
Instrumentalists & performers: T.U.K (Talented Ugandan Kuchus)
Narration: Junic Wambya
Director of Photography: Carol Kaara
Additional camera: Nkyooyo Brian & Junic Wambya
Funded by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
© 2015 Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights and Sexual Minorities Uganda
Screenings
And
Still We Rise, Association of Sexuality Studies,
2016 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Calgary, Alberta. May
28-June 3, 2016.
And
Still We Rise, International Dialogue on the
Intersections of Culture and Tradition with Human Rights based on Sexuality and
Gender, Istanbul, Turkey. Feb. 19-23rd. 2016.
And
Still We Rise, Kampala premiere, Sexual
Minorities Uganda, memorial service in honor of David Kato and also Premier our
first Documentary. Kampala, January 26, 2015.
And Still We Rise, Manchester Memorial University,
Institute of Humanities and Social Science Research, Panel: Nancy Nicol,
Phyllis Waugh, Kay Lalor. Moderated by John Binnie and Christian Klesse,
Manchester, UK, November 18, 2015. https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/hlss/about-us/events/detail/index.php?id=4373
And Still We Rise, Being Human: A Festival of the
Humanities, led by the School of
Advanced Study, University of London in partnership with the Arts & Humanities Research
Council, the British
Academy and the Wellcome
Trust. Panel: Nancy Nicol, Junic Wambya, Richard Lusimbo. Moderator
Corinne Lennox. Bertha DocHouse, Curzon Bloomsbury Cinema, London, UK, November
13, 2015. http://www.dochouse.org/cinema/screenings/event-participatory-documentary-filmmaking-lgbti-activism
And Still We Rise, LGBTI Human Rights Activism and
Film. Presented by Glasgow Human Rights Network with partners Document International
Human Rights Film Festival, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships,
Being Human Film Festival, Radical Film Network, Human Rights Consortium,
Gender and Sexualities Forum and the Centre for Contemporary Arts. Panel: Nancy
Nicol, Junic Wambya, Richard Lusimbo. Panel (No Easy Walk To Freedom): Nancy Nicol, Arvind Narrain, Phyllis
Waugh. Moderator: Matthew Waites. Centre for Contemporary Arts. Glasgow, UK,
November 15, 2015. http://www.crfr.ac.uk/lgbti-human-rights-activism-and-film/