It’s the year 2018 and finding an authentic gay character in an Afrikaans film is nearly impossible. Whilst the Afrikaans film industry is booming, it’s yet to give a voice to minorities.  When a local film does have a gay lead it’s usually reserved for a nouveau audience. Gay characters in mainstream Afrikaans films are always diminished to cliché-ridden background figures. That’s even more reason to welcome Christiaan Olwagen’s new film Canary (Kanarie) with open arms. This coming-of-age musical war drama is set in South Africa in 1985 and centres on a young boy named Johan Niemand (Schalk Bezuidenhout) who gets called on by the military and auditions for the Canaries – the South African Defence Force’s church choir and concert group.