South African Film Festival

THE RADICAL + Q&A

Expired May 30, 2024 1:30 PM
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THE RADICAL is an intimate portrait of the world’s first openly gay imam.


Muhsin Hendricks was a fashion designer in South Africa, who struggled to reconcile his sexuality with his faith. He studied in Pakistan to become an imam—a religious leader—so that he could understand Islam more deeply.


After deciding that he had to be truthful to himself and the world, he came out in 1995, and established the radically-inclusive mosque in Cape Town that gave rise to the global queer Muslim network. Today, Hendricks leads a devoted group of LGBTQ+ Muslims and allies, based in a working-class neighborhood of the city. He decides to take his work to where it is needed most: the East African communities living under anti-LGBTQ+ laws.


The film provides first-person accounts of growing up queer in a society caught between the liberalism of the South African Constitution and the conservativeness of its cultures and history. In the wider African context, it chronicles individual journeys to acceptance amidst the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights on the continent.

  • Year
    2023
  • Runtime
    87 minutes
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    South Africa, Kenya
  • Awards
    Big Sky Documentary Awards Documentary Audience Award (vues d’en face grenoble). Vues d’en face – Festival International du Film LGBT+ de Grenoble 2023 Winner Audience Award Documentary. Africa Human Rights Film Festival 2022 Winner Jury Prize Best Feature Documentary.
  • Director
    Richard Finn Gregory
  • Screenwriter
    Richard Finn Gregory, Khalid Shamis
  • Producer
    Richard Finn Gregory, Kelly Scott
  • Executive Producer
    Daniel G. Karslake
  • Editor
    Khalid Shamis