Produktionsland: USA 2013
Format: Blu-Ray
Sprachfassung: OF m. dt. UT
Länge:82 Minuten

Regie:Kadlec, Shaun
 Tullmann, Deb
Kamera:Kadlec, Shaun
 Tullmann, Deb
Schnitt:Peterson, Josh
Musik:Jeanrenaud, Joan
Ton:Branquinho, Jamie
Produzent:Kadlec, Shaun
 Tullmann, Deb


Der bewegende Dokumentarfilm, der ohne jede offizielle Genehmigung entstand, zeigt am Beispiel von Einzelschicksalen in anschaulicher Weise die Situation von LGBTI-Personen in Kamerun.
Auch dort wird der Alltag bestimmt von der Bedrohung durch Gesetze (fünf Jahre Gefängnis) und Polizei sowie einer von Staat, Kirchen und Medien aufgehetzten Öffentlichkeit. Der Film wurde 2013 auf der Berlinale und auf diversen anderen internationalen Filmfestivals gezeigt. Portraitiert wird außerdem die Arbeit einiger kamerunischer Nichtregierungsorganisationen wie der von Alice Nkom.

Bemerkung zum Film

We followed two main subjects as they went out into the world to confront their own challenges and then returned to Alternatives to regroup with their friends, to figure things out, to treat each others wounds and to build up their courage to go out once again.

We alternated operating camera and sound. We shot on a Canon HDSLR and a Panasonic HVX200. We moved around the city and country with our subjects on the crowded buses and motorcycle taxis that they use, with our cameras in backpacks, being careful not to shoot when police or official-looking people were around. We hid in plain sight, much like LGBT Cameroonians do. Living with a constant sense of danger and often fear helped us connect with our subjects on an empathetic levelthough the fear and risk that they live with every day of their lives is much more serious. When we went into Alternatives Cameroun with them, almost all of the fear evaporated. It is one of the only sanctuaries where LGBT people can be who they are openly with one another. So we built Born This Way around our subjects movement between safety and danger. It is not an essay film. There isnt a lot of exposition. It is a view from the inside of a secret community on the verge of transforming into a social movement. It observes the very specific details of several lives.

  • Filmstill "Born this way"
  • "Alice Nkom"