Reluctantly Queer
Synopsis
This epistolary Super 8 short invites us into the unsettled life of a young Ghanaian man struggling to reconcile his love for his mother with his same-sex desire amid rising anti-LGBTQ tensions in Ghana. Centered on a letter filled with hesitation and uncertainty, Reluctantly Queer questions what it means to be queer for this man in this time and place.
Developed in collaboration with Kwame Edwin Otu, the film resists narrative resolution, centering ambivalence, kinship, and migration.
United States, English
Cast & Crew
Written & Performed by Kwame Edwin Otu
Directed & Cinematography by Akosua Adoma Owusu
Edited by Aaron Alexis Biscombe
Sound Design & Mix by Kari Rae Seekins
Music by Falcone / Aaron Alexis Biscombe
Produced by Obibini Pictures, LLC
Co-Production: John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies
Awards & Nominations
• Audience Award — Best International Short Film, Baltimore International Black Film Festival
• Nominated — Golden Bear, Berlinale Film Festival (Germany)
• Nominated — Teddy Awards, Berlinale Film Festival (Germany)
• Nominated — Out Night Films Competition, Ann Arbor Film Festival
• Nominated — Pink Apple Award, Pink Apple Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (Switzerland)
Selected Screenings
• New Directors/New Films
• Ann Arbor Film Festival
• New York African Film Festival
• Outfest
• CinemAfrica Film Festival (Sweden)
• BFI London Film Festival (London)
• Toronto Queer Film Festival (Canada)
• Queer Lisboa & Queer Porto (Portugal)
• Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg (Germany)
• Morelia Film Festival (Mexico)
• Hanoi International Film Festival (Vietnam)
• NewFest
• AFRIKAMERA (Germany)
• Vancouver Queer Film Festival (Canada)
• Los Angeles Filmforum
• Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA)
• Festival de Cine Africano - FCAT (Spain)
• Parkway Theatre
• Film Africa (London)
• Harvard Film Archive
• Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival
• Eleutheria 2017
• BlackStar Film Festival
• LA Film Festival
Selected Writing
• Never Apart
• e-flux Journal
• True Africa
• Arts.Black
• Letterboxd
• Dazed Digital
• Africa is a Country
Platform Selections
• Teddy Awards Interview
• POV Docs
• American Documentary
• Staff Picks, e-flux film