{"id":780,"date":"2023-08-31T14:08:38","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T12:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinemaqueer.se\/cq23\/?page_id=780"},"modified":"2023-08-31T14:08:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T12:08:38","slug":"rage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cinemaqueer.se\/cq23\/english\/rage\/","title":{"rendered":"Rage"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Rage is the only response to the insanity of the world we currently live in.<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=””][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]When I was younger, my activism was fuelled by anger. Anger at the injustices around me, be it the overt racism of apartheid or the gendered patriarchal violence I grew up in.<\/p>\n

I had a righteous indignation that burned and demanded
\njustice.<\/p>\n

On the 29th of May 2023 The president of Uganda signed what has been described as the world\u2019s harshest anti-LGBTIQA bill. Ghana is following suit. We have seen draft anti-LGBTIQA bills from Kenya to Ghana, South Sudan
\nto Tanzania. Most recently, security forces in Ethiopia are raiding hotels and bars arresting suspected homosexuals.<\/p>\n

Media has played a major role in how we have been represented and mispresented. There are very few positive images of queer people in many African countries, and this includes South Africa with our enviable constitution. Stereotypes and misrepresentations of gay men continue while the rest of us (GNC, NB, Lesbian) simply do not exist.<\/p>\n

So, while many South Africans say that: \u201cWe have an exceptional constitution, and are therefore unaffected by the draconian laws sweeping our continent,\u201d nothing could be further from the truth. Discrimination, hate speech and violence are a part of our daily lives and if social media is anything to go by, South Africans not only support these laws, they applaud them, with some politicians scoring points by
\ncalling for a review of the constitution.<\/p>\n

Ours is a false sense of security.<\/p>\n

In South Africa in the early 90\u2019s media was our most effective weapon. The timing was perfect as our country was going through a transition. People didn\u2019t know about us, so before misinformation and stereotypes could take
\nroot \u2013 we went on the offensive.<\/p>\n

Pride Marches and media blitzes were the bedrock of our visibility and destigmatising campaigns and with every interview, we were writing ourselves into existence.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]It\u2019s unfortunate that the countries passing these laws did not have an opportunity to plant fi rm human rights seeds before the smear campaigns began.<\/p>\n

There are currently very few publicly acknowledged or state supported LGBTIQA+ fi lm festivals.<\/p>\n

The irony is that even in South Africa there is currently no
\nnational queer fi lm festival and small festivals like Kasi to
\nKasi are struggling.<\/p>\n

When Junot Diaz said: \u201c… if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves.\u201d \u2013 he could not have been more accurate.<\/p>\n

We are fighting against a never ending tide, and the rage bubbles over.<\/p>\n

But, as I grow older, I realise that to live in a perpetual state of rage is harmful to me and those around me, without actually affecting those in positions of power.<\/p>\n

This realisation has saved me. I am focused on love as the driving force behind my actions. The love of myself and all my people.<\/p>\n

This means that I\u2019ve had to fi nd a way to focus my rage, to be deliberate, strategic and considered. Making films about us, showing us in all our beauty and complexities, celebrating our lives and once again, constantly writing us into existence became my sole mission. I also learned that it\u2019s just as revolutionary to live in joy, to share our joy and to celebrate ourselves.<\/p>\n

Without Film Festivals such as this one, we continue to be \u201cmonsters with no reflections.\u201d So thank you for this inspiration and for continuing to affirm our existence.<\/p>\n

And while we enjoy the festival and focus our rage may we also remember our joy.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]RAGE<\/em><\/strong> by Dr. Bev Palesa Ditsie Activist, fi lmmaker, opening speaker and honorary guest at Cinema Queer, South Africa<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=””][vc_column][vc_column_text] Rage is the only response to the insanity of the world we currently live in. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=””][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]When I was younger, my activism was fuelled by anger. Anger at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-780","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemaqueer.se\/cq23\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemaqueer.se\/cq23\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemaqueer.se\/cq23\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemaqueer.se\/cq23\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemaqueer.se\/cq23\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemaqueer.se\/cq23\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/780\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemaqueer.se\/cq23\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}