Out in South Africa

Out in South Africa
(Barbara Hammer, 1994)

In Barbara Hammer’s Out in South Africa, members of the gay and lesbian community in post-apartheid South Africa speak about their lives and dreams at a moment of historic transition. Hammer filmed the documentary in 1994 during a three-week visit to the country to attend Africa’s first gay and lesbian film festival and offer workshops for aspiring filmmakers. While there, she interviewed individuals from rural and urban areas representing a cross section of South African society—blacks, whites, Indians, Afrikaners, and others. They share their experiences as gay people contending with misunderstanding, prejudice, and threats of violence, even as a recently adopted constitutional clause banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. This touching constellation of personal accounts reveals a community finding its voice amidst a complicated political climate and holding out hope for a more inclusive future. 

Out in South Africa screened in the Videotheque in January 1996 as part of the Gay and Lesbian Perspectives program.
 

Image: Courtesy of The Barbara Hammer Estate and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York.