Kenyan film ‘Rafiki’ has been locked out of Oscar nominations days after the ban was temporarily lifted. The lesbian movie had been submitted for an Oscar nomination under the Best Foreign Language Film category. Apparently, the reason cited for Rafiki’s failure to make it to the nomination is the ban that had earlier been imposed on the movie by the Kenya Film Classification Board.
Already comments have started coming in showing the disappointment after the hype.
Ezekiel Mutua has the last laugh. Sigh. ? ‘Rafiki’ not in contention for an Oscar because of the earlier ban. ‘Supa Modo’, another Kenyan film has received a nomination. https://t.co/eYiC4uvliY via @SDEKenya
— Wanjiru Waithaka (@CiruWaithaka) September 28, 2018
‘ Njata’ which is also a Kenyan movie was also disqualified from nomination after it emerged that the film was not released on a red carpet event and its premiere was screened at a community hall. Kenyans are however lucky that ‘Supa Modo’ has been selected for the Oscars. The film highlights the plight of a single mother raising a mentally ill child.
Here is a congratulatory message from Wanuri Kahiu to the director of the ‘Supa Modo Film”
Congratulations to #SupaModo being selected as the Kenyan Oscar entry! What joy!!! We celebrate this beautifully, magical film, all the cast and crew and to first time feature director @likarion_w!!!! WELL DONE!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/aIPKVhiHrM
— Wanuri (@wanuri) September 28, 2018