I Am Samuel
Dir: Pete Murrimi
Kenya is not a good place to be part of the LGBT+ community. Not only is there a huge stigma, but gay sex is illegal, punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment. That's the context in which Pete Murrimi's camera follows Samuel, a 26-year-old gay man, his partner Alex and looks at their relationship with each other, with their friends, and Samuel's relationship with his parents, both before and after they discover that he is gay.
The film gets up close with both halves of its central couple. We don't see Alex's parents, because they have all but disowned him. In an interview that encapsulates many of the struggles of being gay in this kind of society, Alex talks about how he thinks his father may have hired people to "teach him a lesson". Later on we also see the couple moving, after Alex has been attacked, though whether this is connected to what he believes about his father isn't entirely clear.
As befits its title, I Am Samuel doesn't dig deeply into the wide societal issues of being gay in Kenya. The roots of prejudice are perhaps glancingly seen in Samuel's dad's preaching, but Murrimi doesn't probe this, he's clearly more interested in Samuel and Alex's life together and how they find moments of levity. One of the most joyous of these is on the couple's first anniversary when they hold an engagement ceremony with all of their friends. It's a sweet moment, filled with love.
I Am Samuel could definitely be deeper, it's frustrating at times that Murrimi seldom asks questions, especially of Samuel's parents. It's also frustratingly short at 67 minutes and there is the feeling that some of the deeper questions could be more fully addressed with a slightly expanded running time. As it is, the sadness and threat that can encroach on Samuel and Alex's relationship lurks around the edges of the film, but it's refreshing to be able to share in their happier moments.
★★★
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