All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White

Love seeps through the cracks in this touching tale of same-sex desire in metropolitan Nigeria, which won the Berlinale’s Teddy Award.

Bambino, a working-class delivery driver, has a secret he must keep at all costs: he is a gay man living in a country where homosexual relations are punishable with a jail sentence of up to 14 years. When he meets well-off photographer Bawa, however, a frisson develops that might lead to something more – a fact complicated by Bambino’s female neighbour’s own erotic desires for him. Consumed by a longing he can’t explain, Bambino isolates himself from Bawa, and the two men must figure out if their yearning and passion are stronger than the social structures that keep them at bay.

Babatunde Apalowo’s ravishing debut feature is a searing statement against intolerance and society’s fear of difference. Originally setting out to create a filmic love letter to the vibrant cityscape of Lagos, the writer/director found himself compelled to dramatise a friend’s real-life experience of homophobic violence. The resulting work is a powerful account of queer becoming; filled with authenticity and emotional honesty, All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White introduces a courageous new voice to world cinema.

“A moving portrait of gay desire, class, and masculinity … [and] a striking and politically vital debut for what it dares to represent – the possibility of freedom.” – In Review