Stories of Our Lives, directed by Jim Chuchu, has won the Teddy
Special Jury Award after screening in the Panorama section at the Berlinale Film
Festival, which ran from 5 to 15 February. The film was also recognised at the
Berlinale with the 2nd Place Panorama Audience Award in the Fiction Film category.
The Teddy Award is a global film award for films covering LGBT issues.
The Kenyan film, sold internationally by Steven Markovitzʼs Big World Cinema,
features a collection of stories and testimonials from people living in the country
which identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex. Stories of
our lives was created by a Nairobi arts collective called NEST. Fearing
punishment due to Kenya’s negative attitude towards same-sex relationships, the
group did not include their names in the film.
The jury consisted of: Gustavo Scofano, Nick Deocampo, Muffin Hix, Yvonne
Behrens, Diego Trerotola, Shana Myara, Predrag Azdejkovic, Mascha Nehls and
Bradley Fortuin respectively. In their statement on selecting Stories of Our
Lives for the Award, they said: “This film portrays great strength and tenacity in the
face of adversity and displays a vital amount of hope for the LGBTQI community. It
sheds light on homophobia and aims to dismantle the stigma and discrimination that
still occurs today, especially in countries where homosexuality is criminalised and
individuals in our community are threatened with violence for their love. This is
brave and beautiful filmmaking, based on true stories that cannot fail to touch each
one of us.’
Chuchu is both director and screenwriter, with Njoki Ngumi serving as co-
screenwriter. Executive Producers are George Gachara and Steven Markovitz.
Stories of Our Lives will next screen in New York at the Museum of
Modern Artʼs Documentary Fortnight 2015 and at the BFI Flare London LGBT Film
Festival in March.
