Changing the LGBTQI+ narrative in Nigeria
Despite facing a 14-year jail sentence for homosexuality, the nominee of BBC's 100 Women of 2020 is fearlessly taking a stance. Being queer herself, Uyaiedu aims to create more films centered on LGBTQI+ individuals in Nigeria.
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00:00 It's too soon to say I'm being over you.
00:04 We're lesbians. This is the perfect time.
00:12 There is a 14-year jail sentence for being gay in Nigeria.
00:16 But filmmaker Uyaydu is changing the narrative of being LGBTQI+ with the means of Nollywood.
00:22 Living in fear as a queer person in Nigeria is our normal.
00:29 I think every queer person lives in some degree of fear.
00:33 Your privilege can't change the degree of fear. Nonetheless, the fear is still there.
00:39 But this does not stop the nominee for the BBC 100 Women for 2020 from taking a stance.
00:46 I don't know that I had any big fears when I was making a fear.
00:51 For me when I was making a fear, I wasn't really thinking, you know.
00:54 I was just going head first without thinking about the possible consequences of what I was doing.
01:01 It was only until I had made the film, then I started to possibly have some fears based on the reception.
01:10 But beforehand I didn't have any fears. I thought I was making a film like any other filmmaker.
01:15 Uyaydu's directorial debut tells the story of two Nigerian women who fall in love over a three-day date.
01:22 But can their love withstand the realities of being lesbian in Nigeria?
01:26 Every day she asked me so many questions and I answered.
01:31 She wanted to know what that meant, if I would have kids and all.
01:36 At the end of each day she'd tell me how much she loved me.
01:41 The National Film and Video Central's Board of Nigeria criticized the film and tracked down those involved in it
01:47 because the laws of Nigeria prohibit certain things, things Uyaydu is well aware of.
01:52 In the casting call I said we're looking for people to play lesbian characters.
01:57 And I didn't have a wide range of choices to pick from.
02:04 So it was very limiting.
02:06 Even though eventually I feel like I still got the best I could have gotten.
02:10 Their chemistry was amazing, but it was still difficult just going through that casting process
02:15 and just looking for people who were good actors or who had acted before
02:21 and were not afraid to put a film like that in their resumes.
02:26 Being queer herself, Uyaydu aims to make more films that center on stories about LGBTQ people,
02:35 particularly Nigerian, lesbian, bisexual and queer women,
02:39 and has featured them again in her new movie, 14 Years and a Day.
02:44 You left me because I found out that I'm intersex.
02:46 But it isn't.
02:48 At least it doesn't feel like it.
02:51 This time, even the title indicates what exactly is at stake,
02:54 the length of the sentence that can be imposed in Nigeria for queer love.
02:58 I'm not afraid of going to jail because I don't think I'm breaking any laws by making queer films.
03:05 There's the SSMPA law, the same-sex marriage act,
03:12 which criminalizes same-sex marriages or same-sex civil unions.
03:19 And with a jail term up to 14 years, there's also some other things added to that law,
03:28 like gay organizations or public display of same-sex affection.
03:36 And I don't think I've broken any of those laws so far.
03:42 Queer women in Nigeria, where homophobia is taken seriously,
03:47 the backlash from the society bites hard.
03:50 We constantly have the fear when we go out and want to do couple-y things,
03:54 and just be a couple, do cute things, without the constant stares or questions.
04:05 When I came out as queer, I had mixed responses from my family.
04:10 I had siblings who just took it as their new normal, just ran with it, didn't act strange.
04:21 For some, it took longer to finally come to terms with it.
04:26 But I think I'm in a really great place now with my family, and I'm super grateful for that.
04:34 My partner's name is Ayo.
04:36 They sent me a message on Instagram sometime in 2021, I think.
04:42 It was very interesting because it just went straight to the point.
04:47 "Hey, if you're in Lagos, we should do drinks sometime."
04:50 I'm like, "Okay, who does this person think they are?"
04:52 "Okay, no, I didn't think that."
04:53 I thought, "Oh, who's this cute person texting me?"
04:55 I looked on their page, and I thought, "Oh, nice."
04:58 And we agreed to meet.
05:00 We went on a date.
05:03 It was a super cute date.
05:05 We went back home together, spent some time together.
05:08 We just started talking every day, spending a lot more time together.
05:15 Maybe eight months later, trying to see where we were going, we made it official.
05:23 I don't think film is the most effective way of talking about queer love.
05:27 I think it is an effective way.
05:29 I think it's a really good way.
05:31 There are many other ways of showing queer representation,
05:35 from documentaries to books to literature to reality shows, even social media.
05:42 Social media is one of my favorites because it's reality
05:46 and the actual real queer people living these lives and doing that work.
05:52 So I do think that film is a great way because a lot of people like film.
05:56 A lot of people watch film.
05:58 And film has been shaping cultures for centuries.
06:02 The motivation for me is representation.
06:05 The motivation is normalization.
06:08 I really wanted people to just see that love is love
06:14 and that love looks the same no matter who the people are,
06:18 no matter their gender, no matter their race, no matter their tribe or religion.
06:24 Love always looks the same.
06:26 The battle continues for acceptance and recognition for Uyaydu and other queer people in Nigeria.
06:32 But until then, Uyaydu with her fist full of films will continue to fight.
06:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]