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/