While You Weren't Looking is a 2015 South Africandrama film directed by Catherine Stewart. The film examines the struggles experienced by lesbians living in suburban South Africa compared to those living in townships.
Plot synopsis
20 years after the end of apartheid, Dez and Terri are a mixed-race lesbian couple living in one of the most affluent suburbs of Cape Town. Their adopted daughter, Asanda, who is 18, is of mixed racial heritage. Dez and Terri are being torn apart by their marital insecurities, while also facing social pressure to "be normal" and "fit in", in spite of the wide range of LGBT rights guaranteed by the post-apartheid regime. Asanda, is caught up in exploring her own sexuality, wavering between her boyfriend Greg, and queer "Tommy boy" Shado. The family housekeeper, who is from the same township as Shado, makes it clear that she is unwelcome in the upper-class neighborhood. Conversely, Asanda's first visit to the township makes her feel she isn't "black enough". The developing relationship between Asanda and Shado forces Dez and Terri to confront their own prejudices. The film includes various takes on race and gender politics, from the personal stories of the protagonists, to the passionate voice of a university lecturer, to the images projected in the film. Subplots bring the suburban lesbians' lives into harsh contrast with the lives of queer women in the township.
The film's international premiere took place at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on 2 May 2015, and the South African premiere was at the Durban International Film Festival on 20 July of the same year. The original cut of the film is 104 minutes, but a shortened version of 74 minutes was also released. The film was an official selection of multiple international film festivals, including:
Online magazine Spling! gave the film a "satisfactory" 6 out of 10 stars, positively citing the strong local talent, the incorporation of local music and art, and the beautiful photography. The review also opined that the theme of LGBTQ acceptance, as expounded upon by the academic lecture featured in the film, is too disconnected from the narrative itself, and also that each subplot was complex enough to warrant a vehicle of its own. The Back Row's review was harsher regarding the same issues, quoting "lovelorn gay lecturer Mack"'s cry that "If you can ‘queer’ gender, you can ‘queer’ anything" as the noble thesis of the film, calling for broadmindedness and acceptance for South Africa to move forward, but then condemns it as failing to match its vision with artistry, instead featuring clumsy dialogue and artificial performances. Sharon Calingasan's FilmDoo review, on the other hand, found the film "compelling" and lauded it for taking on the larger issues of the LGBTQ community in South Africa, while celebrating "individuality and humanity in its truest sense." The GLIFF review of the film found the approach to dealing with LGBT, class and racial relations deft and sensitive, and reviewer Don Simpson felt that the "interjections from a queer theory class provides While You Weren’t Looking with an intellectualism that cleverly compliments and comments upon the narrative."
