‘Out Laws’ review: Thoughtful doc explores the impact of colonial anti-gay laws in Namibia and beyond

Dirs: Lexi Powner, James Lewis. Namibia-UK. 2026. 79mins

Individual tales of queer activism help illuminate the wider struggle to dismantle centuries of state oppression in Out Laws. Lexi Powner and James Lewis’s wide-ranging debut feature starts with activist Friedel Dausab’s legal challenge to the anti-gay laws in Namibia and expands into a thoughtful account of the way colonialism exported homophobia to countries throughout Africa. A sobering, informative work should attract some interest from specialist festivals and documentary channels following its world premiere at BFI Flare.

 A sobering, informative work 

The gentle, mild-mannered Dausab is literally taking his life into his hands as the litigant in a landmark case challenging the Namibian government’s laws criminalising homosexuality. Removing the law has been a lifelong dream for him and the filmmakers join him as the case finally comes to trial . Directors Powner and Lewis provide some sense of what his success would mean for the cause of equality before expanding their focus to two other activists who are preparing to join Dausab at London Pride: writer and trans activist Raven Gill, the executive director of Butterfly Barbados; and Sri Lankan advocate Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, who was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people of 2024.

In shaping the narrative of Out Laws, Power and Lewis use extensive photo montages to sustain a snappy pace and often favour extreme close-ups as if to emphasise that the activists are finally being seen. Personal histories, fond memories and the inspiration of figures like Harvey Milk all contribute to an understanding of who they are and what they have overcome. London Pride provides them with a valuable platform and warm hug of support from the enthusiastic crowds.

Powner and Lewis then step aside from those individual stories to provide a much longer view of history. Passed under Henry VIII, the Buggery Act of 1533 was the first civil legislation to criminalise sexual acts “against the order of nature” with man or beast. The punishment was death and forfeiture of land. Some historians suggest it was a convenient means for the monarch  to undermine the Catholic Church.

The Act may seem very long ago, but its consequences continue to be felt. As the British Empire grew, similar laws were exported to many African countries, took root and remain as means of control, oppression and othering minorities. Relying on an extensive range of testimony from academics, historians,  lawyers and politicians. Powner and Lewis establish the ongoing hunger to ’decolonise our laws’.  They also cover the impact of  the Christian evangelical movement in America, which has resulted in the spread of an anti-gay message throughout Africa. 

Out Laws serve as a thought-provoking history lesson although the modest running time can’t help but leave the impression that there is much more to say on the subject of gay lives in Africa and the many prejudices that have conspired to render them invisible. Images of those who have been targeted and killed add chilling evidence of the price of resistance. 

The film turns full circle as we await the court ruling in Dausab’s case knowing much more of what is at stake for him and everyone else daring to demand equality. The fact that he now needs personal security and is receiving death threats only enhances the emotional impact of the verdict. In the end, Out Laws is an engaging celebration of sustaining victories, and an acknowledgement that the quest for LGBTQ+ rights in Africa is measured in one battle after another.