In a scene from Ìfé, a 2020 movie about two Nigerian lesbian lovers overseen by LGBTQ rights advocates and filmmakers, Pamela Adie (producer) and Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim (director), Ìfé (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) says to Adaora (Cindy Amadi) as they both lay and hold each other in bed, “We are lesbians, this is the perfect time”. The quote is memorable for different reasons; a quippy reference to how fast the progression of lesbian relationships are said to be, but it is also a testament to the urgency of their emotions that, at the same time, acknowledges the reality of being two queer Nigerian women in love. On January 7, 2014, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former president of Nigeria, passed the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, which criminalised homosexual relationships and marriages with a 14-year imprisonment penalty. The act also prohibited the meetings of gay clubs, societies, and organizations. Other African nations, which at that time had also stringently criminalized same-sex relationships include Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, and Mauritania, amongst others. While queer people and queer relationships were already actively discriminated against in Nigeria, with homosexuality taught as deviant behaviour in most schools, churches, and mosques, the passing of the SSMPA introduced a much more aggressive wave of acts of violence against queer people, including femme presenting men and masc presenting women who ‘seemed queer’, without confirmation of their sexuality. People suspected of being homosexual are still today exposed to verbal and physical harassment from homophobic members of the public. Many queer people seeking partners on the internet get kitoed by homophobes, who disguise themselves to be queer online, in order to assault, rob, blackmail, or even kill queer people. This is not a situation peculiar to Nigeria alone. Across Africa, stories of closeted queer people being forcibly outed, assaulted, and harassed, permeate the news. With the constant othering of queer people, the majority of African society has gotten comfortable with the dehumanisation of people in homosexual relationships, a reality that mainstream African cinema mirrors all too well. The portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters in African cinema is often one-dimensional, stereotypical, and portrayed as taboo. Many of these characters and their relationships are created with little to no nuance, their primary function – furthering a plot that usually ends with reinforcing ideas of queerness being synonymous with evil, immorality, or some other kind of dysfunctional behaviour, an open and shut lesson on the consequences of deviating from heterosexuality. Examples of this abound in early Nollywood titles like Men in Love, Emotional Crack, Ajegbodo, and Girls Cot, where queer characters are written as morally bankrupt, homewreckers, and rapists who eventually come to a tragic end. Films can be an impactful medium for telling stories and bringing public awareness to social and political issues in a way that can be used to initiate conversations leading to mindset shifts and social change. In recent years, African cinema has seen notable gains in addressing social issues that were once considered taboo, including LGBTQ+ rights. Several African filmmakers are now producing queer-positive films, highlighting the oppression and violence faced by LGBTQ+ people on the continent. These new African queer-positive films are challenging these negative stereotypes, and they bring us one step closer to a world in which people of all genders and sexual orientations are accepted and equal. Rafiki, directed by Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu, is a 2018 film about two queer women, Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva), who fall in love despite societal expectations that “Good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives,” and legal restrictions against same-sex relationships in Kenya. It is important to note that not only was Rafiki banned in Kenya because it contravened the law by positively portraying “an illegal relationship,” but also because the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) directed Kahiu to change the ending of the movie as it was too light and hopeful, a directive that was refused. Rafiki went on to be nominated for the Un Certain Regard and screened at the 71st Cannes Film Festival in France, becoming the first Kenyan film to be screened at the festival. South African movie The Wound (Inxeba) directed by John Trengrove examined queerness and toxic masculinity in the South African context. The film’s release was met with violent protests in South Africa after an unsuccessful attempt to have it banned by those who felt it infringed on cultural practices.