Zeitz MOCAA will be hosting a series of Pan-African film screenings at The Labia Theatre the last Friday of every month. They begin this satellite programme with the film Stories of Our Lives (2014) by the East-African Nest Collective.
A multidisciplinary arts group
Founded in 2012, the Nairobi-based Nest Collective is a multidisciplinary arts group working across film, music, fashion, visual arts, and literature. Their acclaimed queer anthology film Stories of Our Lives (2014) has been screened in more than 90 countries and received numerous awards.
Stories of Our Lives (2014) is a powerful film made up of five short vignettes drawn from real accounts within Kenya’s queer community. Developed by the Nest Collective through an extensive oral history project, the film captures intimate, everyday experiences of love, identity, and resilience, situating them within a broader socio-political context in East Africa during a period of heightened debate around anti-homosexuality laws. Though banned in Kenya for allegedly promoting “obscenity” and homosexuality, the film gained significant international recognition, winning the collective the Berlinale Teddy Jury Prize.
In addition to their artistic practice, the collective has founded influential platforms such as HEVA (2013), Africa’s first creative business fund dedicated to supporting East African cultural entrepreneurs, and Strictly Silk (2018), a dance party and multimedia space that centres joy, safety and community for women and non-binary people of all ages, origins and religions. Coming from East Africa, their work draws primarily on African urban and contemporary experiences as a foundation for exploring their histories and imagining possible futures, while remaining attentive to globally interconnected issues. In 2022, the collective was recognized in Monopol Magazine’s annual list of 100 leading contemporary cultural practitioners.
What: Zeitz MOCAA Nest Collective’s work and Pan-Africa cinema screening of Stories of Our Lives
When: Friday, 24 April 2026, 6 pm – 8 pm
Where: Labia Theatre, Cape Town
Entry: Non-members R30. Zeitz MOCAA members free
WS
