IS THIS THE END FOR ‘OUT IN AFRICA’?
After almost two decades, this year could be the final outing for South Africa’s groundbreaking Out In Africa gay and lesbian film festival following funding cuts.
The news was announced by Festival Director Nodi Murphy in Johannesburg on Friday at the launch of the 2012 edition of the festival in Hyde Park.
The first of three mini-festival this year is currently underway in Johannesburg and Cape Town and comes to an end this weekend. An additional two events are planned later this year from 27 July to 5 August and from 17 to 28 October.
Murphy, however, revealed that these were likely to be last-ever OIA festivals.
“Out In Africa is over. This is our last year,” she told shocked audience members who had gathered for a screening of the Oscar-nominated film Albert Nobbs.
“We simply don’t have the funds to continue and no-one is interested in the queers”.
She explained that one of the festival’s primary funders, American Philanthropies, had ended its cycle of funding for LGBT organisations in South Africa leaving the festival with a lack of funding to continue into the next year.
Murphy urgently appealed for members of the lesbian and gay community to support the festival to ensure that it can survive.
“We are meant to be a beacon of light and hope in Africa. And we only need 4,166 people to donate R240 a year to keep going. That’s the cost of about 10 bad cappuccinos,” she quipped. “Surely there are at least 4,166 queers in this country?”
Speaking to Mambaonline, Murphy said that the LGBT community needs to take ownership of the event
“We are a rich country and rich community and just expecting everyone else to support us doesn’t seem right. But, I can’t tell people how to spend their money and if they don’t care about the film festival then I suppose that it has lived its life.”
Out in Africa was launched 19 years ago and remains the only ongoing annual gay and lesbian film festival in Africa. It is held in mainstream cinemas and is one of the few social spaces for LGBT people that is not fuelled by alcohol and sex.
In addition to the hundreds of films it has screened over the years, the festival has also mentored local LGBT filmmakers and assisted in the production of a number of short films.
To help save the cultural and social life of our community by contributing to Out in Africa, go to the website here. Donations are tax deductible.
I will support our festival. Come on guyz lets do this
Will definitely help. We need OIA!
Cool, could you share how to donate to the festival mambaonline? Thanks!
this is shocking. surely the two mian cinema chains that have hosted this and had thiousands of GAY FEET thro their doors at the fest an d when movies have gone on circuit can support despyre the economy. They are coining it compared to livetheatre which is battlign and almost dead in some cases and gets no publicity.
The Durban Gay & Lesbian Film Festival encourages our community to support Out In Africa as the initiative Nodi has launched is affordable for any of us. Keep the flag flying!
Funding Out in Africa. I think its a tradegy that this festival in possibly coming to an end. Surely there must be a chance of corporate sponsorship especially from LGTB owned companies? As an accountant seeing the financial statements of the the organisation would be a good idea. This would encourage our community to see where their donations are being spent.
Damn I’ve always wanted to goto one of these Out In Africa film festival. Being a closet case (and a broke ass student) I never had the balls to go nor cud I afford to go. Im done with school next year n I had hopped to be able to start going to OIA n see my very first gay film. Please make this queer boy’s dream come true guys n donate. Once I start working I will donate for two people. But until then please find out everything u can about donating. Thank you all in edvance and you will see me ther next year*wink*
Its sad, but not the end of the world. Cinemas are having a hard time everywhere and why now try and force something that clearly lacks support- even from its own community. Most of those movies were crap in any case.. come on- you know I am right!
You are wrong buddy. Very wrong.
I still think this is somthin to keep around inspite BA’s opinion. I wud like that poor boy from the previous comment, who hasn’t seen it for himself to determine on his own if the movies r crap.
I would hate to see this as the last festival, however it was not well advertised. sad sad sad
Is “Out in Africa” ready to transform and apply for funding from our Department of Arts and Culture (www.dac.gov.za) to protect our constitutional rights under sections 16 and 30? Or have other media – such as DVD, adsl streaming, made ‘gay’ movie shows as irrelevent as they have made mainstream cinema houses – one visit to Ster-Kinekor and Nu-Metro will show how few adults actually attend any movies, gay or straight.
The sad truth is, that OIA has by its nature scared off many closets, and in some respects has been an elitist celebration of art – there is nothing stopping anyone from continuing to support gay and art movies, with or without sponsorship from American Philanthropies.
With NetFlix and alternative media overseas prospering, there is no reason a gay entrepeneur cannot not set up alternative distribution channels profitably – this is an opportunity, not a threat.
It seems to me that inconsistent censorship (DSTV fined for showing a cock, on select channels while eTV shows soft straight porn open to air nightly) is a bigger problem than Nodi Murphy keeping up with the times. Imagine if we had our own channel on DSTV… sport, interviews, movies, yes even porn!
Truth is, guys are more interested in hooking up with the next “NSA” hot bod than in using our communal power effectively to protect, enhance and grow our rights and tolerance of each other – for culture to survive, it must be relevant.