Africa, literally, is not for sissies and this epic documentary proves that there’s a battle to be fought as it follows the travails of five gay Africans as they try to get out -– literally and figuratively, away from homegrown prejudice, brutality and their own sense of self-doubt. For some that means moving to South Africa, bastion of supposed tolerance, for others it means risking everything in Europe. Neither place turns out to be either sanctuary or sympathetic, and the film is as much an indictment of inconsistent refugee policies as it is a personal journey of heart-breaking intensity. But it’s also a film of hope. Val, a Ugandan, refuses to put her sexuality in a box on the shelf, even if it means being separated from her lover. Tatenda, a transgendered Zimbabwean battling the refugee system in Cape Town is never in doubt of her real journey and Leon, a rent boy in Kampala, wants to begin the odyssey towards true self-understanding. But the tales of trafficking and deportation lend an air of urgency – and reality – to the film, and the United Nation’s recent resolution condemning violence and discrimination against gay people is a much needed ray of hope. See it to understand the battle.

Getting Out is produced by the Refugee Law Project with aid from the Open Society Initiative, in collaboration with the Ugandan Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law.