Forbidden Fruit (2000 film)
Encyclopedia
Forbidden Fruit is a 2000 German/Zimbabwean short documentary film
written and directed by Sue Maluwa-Bruce. Filmed in Zimbabwe, the film depicts the romantic relationship between two women, and the aftermath of the discovery of their relationship.
relationship is discovered, Nongoma flees to the city. When they are reunited by chance two years later, the women decide to move together to a village where nobody knows them.
, Zimbabwe. When the original cast members resigned fearing a homophobic
backlash, Maluwa-Bruce recruited friends and family members to act in the film.
Jury Award at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival
and the FEMMEDIA Prize for Best Short at the Identities Queer Film Festival in Vienna
. It received a Special Jury Mention at the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival in Milan
.
Nicole Blizzard of Technodyke called the film wonderful and Amy Villarejo of Cornell University
called it "a moving call to queer
, global solidarity". PlanetOut called it "the most gutsy film to be shown at the Berlinale". Daniel Somerville said "it may not
be the best film ever made but it certainly breaks ground in a Zimbabwean context."
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
written and directed by Sue Maluwa-Bruce. Filmed in Zimbabwe, the film depicts the romantic relationship between two women, and the aftermath of the discovery of their relationship.
Plot
In a rural village in Zimbabwe, a single woman, Nongoma, and her married neighbour, Tsitsi, fall in love. When their lesbianLesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
relationship is discovered, Nongoma flees to the city. When they are reunited by chance two years later, the women decide to move together to a village where nobody knows them.
Production
Forbidden Fruit was filmed on location in MutareMutare
Mutare is the fourth largest city in Zimbabwe, with a population of around 170,000. It is the capital of Manicaland province.-History:...
, Zimbabwe. When the original cast members resigned fearing a homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
backlash, Maluwa-Bruce recruited friends and family members to act in the film.
Reception
Forbidden Fruit won the TeddyTeddy Award
The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival . Here, an "independent jury" implies that its members are not officially selected by the committee of the Berlinale...
Jury Award at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
and the FEMMEDIA Prize for Best Short at the Identities Queer Film Festival in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. It received a Special Jury Mention at the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
Nicole Blizzard of Technodyke called the film wonderful and Amy Villarejo of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
called it "a moving call to queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
, global solidarity". PlanetOut called it "the most gutsy film to be shown at the Berlinale". Daniel Somerville said "it may not
be the best film ever made but it certainly breaks ground in a Zimbabwean context."