Film festival, a wanting affair

A scene from Deception, a drama series on NTV that was nominated in the category of Best TV series. COURTESY PHOTO

Abaas Kyagulanyi Ssentamu was one of the guests that turned up for the Uganda Film Festival gala night. As he watched winner after another take accolades and posing before photojournalists, he contemplated on what he needed to do better to ace one of the prized awards.

For five years, he has been submitting his films for the film fest and luck has not smiled on him. “I am still optimistic that I will win one day at the festival,” the lanky filmmaker says.

He had interfaced with this year’s judges to find out what he needs to do better to make his works as competitive as some of the night’s winners. Ssentamu is another of the youths in Uganda’s film industry, hoping for their stars to shine. He produces films for as low as Shs2m, or even less, under Film Harvest Stars, his company.

He takes on more roles than one, directing, scouting and convincing friends to enroll as part of the cast as well as producing. He uses money he makes as a cameraman at public functions and saves in anticipation of making another film.

His story is not unique. When the Uganda film festival started in 2013, Uganda Communications Commission targeted youth like him, at least as their theme reflected, ‘Opportunities in the Film industry’ was the inaugural festival’s theme, which as Ibrahim Bbossa, The UCC’s manager-consumer affairs, explains, was meant to profile the film industry and the opportunities therein.

Many youths jumped at the opportunity to make films. Four years on, some have won accolades but demand more of UCC. Aaron Zziwa is one of the nominees at this year’s awards and says whereas UCC’s gesture to screen filmmakers works is a step in the right direction, the timing for the screening is wrong and uninviting.

Win some lose some.
Movies are screened during working hours, between 10am and 4pm when corporate are in office. Besides the timing, Zziwa argues that UCC should have continuous dialogue with filmmakers to understand the industry rather than their hit-and-run approach with filmmakers when they need submissions of their works, and in a very hurried process.

The awareness is limited too. The buzz about the festival is hardly felt in public spheres. However, Matt Bish, real name Matthew Bishanga, a renowned filmmaker and producer who has severally won in the festival awards, says whereas UCC cannot satisfy the expectations of every filmmaker, they have taken strides in improving.

The participation has grown too. According to Bbossa, 113 submissions were received this year of which the judges made nominations. One of the newbies is Nisha Kalema whose film, Freedom, has earned her a nomination for ‘Best Film Actress’. She is happy because she scripted the movie, and it inspires her to do more as a writer.

Kalema is participating for the second year. She took home the ‘Best Film Actress’ award last year for her role in Hanged for Love.

Zziwa is also glad for the nomination thanks to his movie titled Wako, which has won an accolade at the Arusha Africa Film Festival for Best Feature Film, and a nod at the Zanzibar International Film Festival. Bish’s The Athlete is also among the nominated works.

A learning process
During workshops earlier in the week, some filmmakers whose movies didn’t make it to the shortlist had questions for the judges; Sister Dipio Dominic and Joshua Ssali from Uganda, Leonce Ngabo from Burundi, Femi Odugbemi from Nigeria and Clifford Okumu from Kenya.

“This shows that the industry is growing. There are many newcomers who are displacing old timers in the awards. The workshops are a good contribution because filmmakers are also able to tap into opportunities like meeting stakeholders in the industry thus. business is made and doors of opportunity are opened,” Bbossa explains.

This year’s theme is “Promoting Culture through Film” which has attracted support from Zuku pay televeision. Bbossa explains that the theme is aimed at promoting Uganda through film by showcasing our culture the way Bollywood and Nollywood have successfully had done.