JOMO
A film by Kivu Ruhorahoza
Deported from London to Nairobi, Jomo, a gay Kenyan man comes face to face with American televangelism and Christian political lobbying in Africa…
Short synopsis
Jomo, a gay Kenyan man named after Jomo Kenyatta, the father of Kenyan independence, is deported from London after ten years spent in the UK. His arrival coincides with that of famous American televangelist Reverend Stanley Renge who is organizing a month-long I Want You for Heaven Christian campaign.
Francis, an old friend who says he has been “born again and healed”, welcomes Jomo. The two childhood friends inevitably fall out and Jomo has to find another place to stay. He calls a friend called Jomo. Jomo introduces Jomo to what he calls “the struggle”…
Style and plot
The plot is original. The main character and his semblables are all called Jomo. To show Jomo’s journey, I will use three different actors portraying him at different stages in his life. They are all called Jomo: Jomo the deportee, Jomo the prostitute and Jomo the activist. The viewer will get it very quickly that the other Jomos are the evolutions of Jomo, the deportee through a number of visual clues, to show that the three main characters are actually the same.
When Jomo the deportee fails to get a job he ends up becoming a gigolo, then he becomes a prostitute. When Jomo the prostitute learns of a gay man who has been violently attacked and when he reads a newspaper that has published names of gay people in town asking readers to find them and hang them, that is when he decidesto become an activist and fight for the rights of his community.
