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Human Rights Watch Film Festival Presents: I Am Samuel (Digital Film Festival)

February 2, 2021 @ 7:00 pm - February 8, 2021 @ 11:30 pm

This film offers subtitles in English and Closed Captioning. You can select these options by clicking the ‘CC’ button in the bottom right of the player.

Samuel grew up on a farm in the Kenyan countryside, where tradition is valued above all else. He moves to Nairobi in search of a new life, where he finds belonging in a community of fellow queer men where he meets and falls in love with Alex. Their love thrives even though Kenyan laws criminalize anyone who identifies as LGBTQ, and together they face threats of violence and rejection. Samuel’s father, a preacher at the local church, doesn’t understand why his son is not yet married and Samuel must navigate the very real risk that being truthful to who he is may cost him his family’s acceptance. Filmed over five years, I Am Samuel is an intimate portrait of a Kenyan man balancing pressures of family loyalty, love, and safety and questioning the concept of conflicting identities.

“I can’t really be myself. It’s like they’re seeing just half of who I am.” – Alex, I Am Samuel

“This is a lovely film, very honest, very raw, with characters who are compelling in how real they are.” – Neela Ghoshal, Senior Researcher, LGBT Rights, Human Rights Watch

Watch at your own pace anytime between Feb 2-Feb 8, 2021, or join us and watch-along before the live Opening Night Q&A.

Get tickets now

February 6, 2021
2:30pm (PST) / 11:30pm (EST) : Press play and begin watching the film.
3:38pm (PST) / 12:38pm (PST): Grab a snack and refill your beverage
4pm (PST) / 7pm (EST) : Join us for the live Q&A on Zoom (RSVP required.)

We do not want the cost of entry to these films to be a barrier for participation in these events. If the price of buying a ticket to this film would prevent you from participating, please email the following address (filmticket@hrw.org) + we will send you a free ticket code. We have set aside a set # of tickets per film on a first come first-served basis. Once the free tickets are no longer available, the code will no longer work. For anyone that purchases a ticket, we appreciate your support. Your ticket purchase enables us to make tickets free for those who might otherwise be unable to watch. This also allows the festival to support the filmmakers for sharing their work in our festival to support the arts organizations bringing this work to you and for the festival to cover the cost of hosting the films online.

Human Rights Watch thanks the David D. Dodge Foundation for its support.

Thank you to our partners:
Survivors of Torture, International
Interdisciplinary Human Rights Initiative, College of Arts and Letters (CAL), San Diego State University
IRC
San Diego Pride
Alliance San Diego


Purchase tickets here

Event Details

Start:   February 2, 2021
End:   February 8, 2021
Event Categories:
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Venue
Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Art
Address
1649 El Prado
San Diego, CA 92101 United States
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MOPA is now MOPA@SDMA!Learn More

MOPA is now MOPA@SDMA!

Welcome to the Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Art!

As of July 1, 2023, the Museum of Photographic Arts and The San Diego Museum of Art have merged to become one unified institution. The Museum of Photographic Arts is now the Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Art (MOPA@SDMA).

MOPA@SDMA remains a pay-what-you wish museum open Thursdays through Sundays 11:00 a.m.– 5:00 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you soon!