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HoAF Festival Recap

Watch this brief summary video of our festival in Abidjan

BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Tsepiso Mahase

Birds of a Feather is a short documentary film that highlights a queer Mosotho instrumentalist and artist, ‘Matlali. “Lesiba” is a traditional musical instrument traditionally played by men in Lesotho, stemming from herdsmen entertaining themselves and their livestock while out in the fields with not much to do. “Lesiba” directly translates to “feather” from Sesotho. The tradition throughout the years has been upheld in its gendered norm, being played by men in machismo but recently there has been more mingling of gendered instruments.

Matlali being a queer woman living in Lesotho has embraced this musical instrument for the past year, taking time to learn its history, how it is made and ultimately, how it is played. Being a multi-faceted artist trying to break the gender-norms of this instrument, we follow her performing this instrument as well as a string instrument she made. She reflects on navigating the patriarchal society of Lesotho, and being othered in a country that upholds many of its long-standing traditions.  

BUILDING A TRANS FEMINIST ARCHIVE IN MOZAMBIQUE

Caio Simões de Araújo and Aghi

A visual essay focusing on the lives of 6 activists in an emerging transgender movement in Mozambique called Transformar. The movement is an NGO that focuses on trans-peoples lived experiences, struggles, perspectives and aims to bridge the gap between the mainstream feminist, LGBT movements and the spaces where Transgender lives are side-lined. 

The project is a reclamation of retelling trans-feminist histories and an attempt at creating an archive of a marginalised past and lending ongoing support to the present struggles.

Stemming from the notion of widening our perspective of African womanhood, undoing gender binaries and re-imagining sexuality the participants on this project are tasked to think about femininity, gender, sexuality and intimacy. They do this as they live their femininity and womanhood; as they imagine new forms of feminist and queer politics and as they think about the past and imagine new possibilities for the future.

LABOUR OF OUR HANDS
Neema Ngelime

“Labour of Our Hands” is a poetic reflection of women’s labour. The film contains photographic stills and audio of the women’s working environment wherever or whatever it is. The term ''work'' in the film can be paid or unpaid labour example emotional labour or domestic etc.

The different women-based in Dar es salaam will share their individual accounts of days of their lives through the work of their hands. The film progress as different women pass the torch to each other. The women weave a ''song'' about their long tiring days, unrequited verse requited love for their jobs, formal or non-formal.