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Robin Kisti Ta l ks l if est yl e TV

Why she l ef t l o g in And a new sho w

Special: 10th Amakula International Film Festival

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Contrib utors Samson Baranga A photojournalist, fashion blogger and writer attended the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs) and we have a piece to prove he was indeed there. Baranga is also a photographer with he Observer.

Gilbert Bwette He’s a Hip Hop activist and has covered all festivals that have been held in Uganda. A member of the famous Bavubuka Hip Hop Camp, Bwette prefers calling himself an activist rather than just a photographer. He’s credited for taking the pictures at Amakula International Film Festival.

Polly Kamukama Kamukama has been writing about ilm for a long time, he was a journalist with he Observer before joining Media Council’s Film Classiication Board. During the just concluded Amakula International Film Festival , he headed the team of bloggers which Rogers Atukunda, who has also contributed to this edition was part of.

Photo goes here

With the local elections in history, the New Year has officially started. In this issue of The Review, we conduct our very first One on One. We put Robin Kisti on the spot, she tells us why she left the TV Show that made her, the plans for the future and we go an extra mile to look at the state of lifestyle TV shows like Login.

For instance, have you ever thought about the days when you had to wait for Showtime Magazine to know how so and so’s concert went down? or when you had to wait for Tilly Muwonge to recommend things before you jumped onto them.

So what exactly happened? Social Media?

Now that many people would rather watch their phones to get live feeds from a Bebe Cool concert than wait for Login, Showtime (If it still exists) and all those that fall within, are these shows still important?

We have more for you in the edition, including a detailed coverage of the Amakula International Film Festival and reviews of films that have created waves on the African circuit in the past months.

kaggwa Andrew

Ug a nda On Set ....

Pictorial Amakula International Film Festival he Drive in and the pleasure of taking over the oicial Blankets and Wine ground at the Uganda Museum could have played a big role in making the tenth season of Amakula international Festival a memory to cherish, Gilbert Bwette captured the events

From the top: People enjoying the drive in cinema, Ian Kimanje during a workshop, he festival ushers, Film makers Gary Mugisha, his Jinxed actress Nisha Kalema and ilm director Jayant Maru pose for a pic.

In the same way, art journalists Lawrence Ogwal and Samson Baranga pose for a picture, can we even forget the smiley Sanyu Kisaka and oh, this boy came for the animation workshop‌‌.

he glitz and glamour at the 2016 AMVCAs LAGOS. On Saturday evening, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos was lit with stars of the Africa ilm and television industry for the fourth edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.

SAMSON BARANGA was there to follow as it all unfolded

he awards under the tutelage of Multichoice are a reward for the most remarkable performances in the continent’s movie industry, with voting from the public. he stars shone on the red carpet donning cut to it suits/gowns or the vibrant traditional wear West Africa is known for. he performances by Mr Flavour, Zonke, Yemi Alade, Alikiba and Salvado Idringi were electrifying. he winners and losers his year’s event could go in history as the most diverse of all. he nominees’ and winners’ lists this year can successfully help the AMVCAs shade of the ‘Nigeria-only’ tag. Last year for example, two Nigerian productions ilms he Meeting And October 1st won 14 awards between them ive and nine respectively. his can be attributed to diferent factors like failiure by other regions to submit entries.

Last year, stakeholder engagements were rolled out with the irst one being held in Nairobi as a plan to get more industrial players involved in the AMVCAs. Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, regional director M-Net Africa said during a press conference ater the awards ceremony that the engagements will continue to diferent parts of the continent. hat could be the reason why Malawi got its irst nomination and irst ever AMVCA accolade with Joyce Chavura’s Lilongwe. It was the biggest surprise of the night as it beat highly billed Ayanda (two awards) and Tell Me Sweet Something (two awards) in the Southern African category. While accepting her award, Mhango noted that the nomination and now the award is a special moment for the country’s budding ilm industry.

Dry, a ilm about underage marriages was the biggest winner taking home three awards including

TRIVIA:

It was the first time Uganda had more than a nomination at the AMVCAs. Two films were nominated and they all belonged to the same director Joseph Ken Ssebagala the overall accolade. Uganda had three nominations for the very irst time. Unfortunately we did not win anything. Ugandan producer Kenneth Ssebaggala whose two ilms Call 112 and House Arrest made the cut says he learnt a lot from the awards. Talking to he Observer ater the awards he said his ilms did not get enough viewership through the region and therefore could not garner enough votes to compete against ones that were showing on big platforms like Africa Magic. He also said Ugandans did not vote.

“Going forward I will continue doing better productions. Put more emphasis on voting when it comes to awards,” he said. On viewership he says Uganda needs a market that not only appreciates the work and also pays for it.

He said the recognition networking, meeting the biggest industry players is the biggest beneit of the awards.

Daniel K. Daniel beat big names like Van Vicker, Segun Arinze and Majid Michael to the best actor’s

accolade while Adesua Etomi (Falling) also beat Genevieve Nnaji the queen of African ilm to the accolade of best actress in a movie. he production Being at such an event, one cannot help but compare to some of our local productions. Truth is, we have a long way to when it comes to producing live shows of such a magnitude. he hosts I.K Osakioduwa and Minnie Dlamini had done their homework and made the lines being read of the teleprompter sound so natural. he guests respected that the show was live and minimized movements. Award presenters were on point and knew where to stand

Rapper Falana alias Falz recieves the award for the Best Male performance in a commedy for Jenifa’s Diary.

Looking on is his co-actress Funke Akindele.

Photo by Samson Baranga and which microphone to use not running around like headless chicken. Time is of the essence for such events. In 45 minutes, 10 awards had been given out and two performances were done.

“Congratulations and welcome to international standards,” said IK to Stanley Ohikhuare who acceptance speech full of all the ilms that inspired him could not it in the designated 30 seconds. he setup enabled all TV crews to have their individual spaces and interview personalities as they made their way along the red carpet. he show ended by 9: 45pm local time. Guests then moved to the ater party venues and danced to DJ Exclusive’s mixes till morning.

On parting ways with Login, did

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Robin jump or she was pushed?

Robin Kisti may have gotten in trouble with her audience all owing to her Southern or Northern...ok wherever she got that accent, the public didn’t really connect well. Plus, Kisti, real names Robinah Namboze was illing the big shoes of the Login pioneer Suzan Naava.

By the time she stopped doing Login, last year, she had won over both fans and tabloids that couldn’t go for a month without creating stuff about her, the Review sat her down to discuss TV, art and why she left.

By Andrew Kaggwa. Photography Facebook

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“Lifestyle shows are good but they need to kill the monotony of bringing the same content as other shows.....�

-Robin Kisti

Amid speculations, you inally let Login and NTV, were you pushed or you jumped?

First of, I loved my experience on Login and enjoyed meeting new people every day. However in life there comes a time where you set speciic goals to achieve by a certain time. his was the time for me where life changed me and was blessed with beautiful children who needed my undivided attention at the time so I had to take a break from it all. I am however very happy with my replacement Ann and thankful for NTV because they believed in my talent. I have plenty of work coming and promise to not disappoint my fans.

What was your experience like?

My experience was interesting and I learnt a lot working at NTV. I learnt to work in a diferent kind

of environment and believe with a little more professionalism, things can go really smoothly. I networked a lot on the job and many of those networks are helping me right now. I am proud to add it to my resume.

Why do you think people tuned in to watch you?

At irst when I was doing hotsteps, which was my debut, I felt like some people tuned in to abuse me and how skinny I looked or how I am faking an accent. However others especially the youth tuned in because I was actually diferent from the norm and wanted to hear what I had to say and maybe they also liked my personality. Gradually people looked pass the accent and others thinks and actually saw the talent.

How would you sum up your time

on Login?

My time on login I believe was a time of free spirit and me and my team tried our best to give the viewers what they wanted. I feel like a created a brand that people related to and again I thank the NTV team for granting me the opportunity to shine and show my talent. To sum it all up, it was an experience I will never forget and very grateful for my fans who continue to follow my wqork.

For the time you did the show, what did you notice change?

What I noticed change was the audience of the people who watched the show, I attracted a more youthful audience between the ages of 15 to 25.

You being an art enthusiastic, why was there barely any art on Login?

Yes you are right I am an art enthusiast, however I was not in position to decide which events to go to. Most of the events are booked through the producer who then makes the decision as to whether we would go or not. Sometimes I would get my way and you would see some art on the show but not oten.

Do TVs hate the arts?

I don’t think they hate art, I think they don’t understand art. It is a broad ield that you have to get more insight about, which most people don’t have time for.

In the past you’ve been sharing videos talking about diferent things, are you turning into a social media activist now?

Well the social media videos are to keep my fans engaged because they have been asking me what I am doing, so I thought that this would be a good way to communicate and add them in my process. I also want to inspire young people who have respect for my work and feel can learn from me.

It is also a good way if gaining

more followers. For those interested, they can check out my face book page Robin Kisti.

Ater the NTV chapter what’s next?

At the moment, I am producing other shows and in particular, a show called ON THE MASS, based around the African entertainment scene in the Diaspora. he show will be airing on a TV near you soon.My goal is to grow as a brand and be able to represent my country on a world scale. As I always told you, I am an actress so I am going to get back on the stage.

What is the show about? he TV show is about connecting African entertainers especially Ugandans living in the Diaspora with the Ugandans back home.

We will also showcase African events in the Diaspora.

How would you rate Uganda’s lifestyle TV shows? _ Do they get out of the box enough? _ Are they still relevant especially with internet breaking stories before they do?

Uganda’s lifestyle shows are good but they need to kill the monotony of bringing the same content as others shows. So basically they are all the same but on diferent TVs. I don’t think they give time to being creative and stick to how they do things every day. Creativity is lacking. Yes they are relevant but they have to keep up with what people are already being exposed to on the daily on digital television.

If you came back to Uganda as a producer on such shows, what would you do diferent?

I would try I explore diferent things because Uganda has a lot to ofer. I would try and listen to what viewers are asking for through social media. his way they will feel involved and part of the show.

Does Lifestyle TV

Matter Anymore?

Remember a time when Tilly Muwonge was one of the most relevant women on TV? She was the host of the most famous variety show at that time, Showtime Magazine on WBS TV, making hursdays the mostly awaited for days on TV. It was that show that you had to look out for if you wanted to know what happened at Shaggy, Tevin Campbell or any other international artistes’ concert, what happened when companies rolled out campaigns or rebranded. he show was that one thing you didn’t want to miss if you had to tell people that you’re one of the people in the know as far as showbiz is concerned – the show introduced us to all these little things like backstage interviews, what so and so put on at the Goat

With people getting their sleaze from the stage to their android phones, shows such as Login on NTV or Pandonor Magazine on NBS TV literally take back seats.

Races (where the hell did these things go?) and what was trending in Kampala.

Nothing was of the limits for this show, for instance they did a show where they took us around an internet café, just to show us how to search the internet, (of course the internet was a big deal in 2000, there were times you had to part with at least shs1000/= to be helped open an email) from game park hikes to bungee jumping, skinny Tilly was there.

Fast forward to 2016, no one actually knows where Tilly Muwonge is but what she started! Well we have no idea if Showtime Magazine still exists but all we know is that the format she introduced to us is still with us.

For over seven years, even ater Tilly had let the screens, Show-

time Magazine had continued being the most relevant society TV programme in the country – it was such a hit that we cared about whoever hosted it.

From Karitas Karisimbi, Barbra Yata, Doreen Kayongo to Brenda Ibarah, (I guess this was the last time we cared about the people presenting the show) they all contributed a lot to keeping the Red Pepper pages illed up; Karitas was the hot one, Yata was the pencil girl, Kayongo, well they linked her to men she smiled with and Ibarah, wow, girl had legs….and just like that, Showtime had created objects for a tabloid.

But then came in NTV and a number of things, Rendezvous was spot on since it wasn’t event based, Art and Style was always out of the normal Ugandan TV

skin – the two shows could probably go down as the most thought ater lifestyle shows NTV producers have ever curated though later let them die naturally.

It’s partly blamed on the rather many things that Ugandans ind interesting these days; for instance, much as producers assume that the audience wants to know what was at Bebe Cool’s concert, they forget that such shows barely deliver new things and because of this, the purported audience knows what to expect. hen, just like music shows, lifestyle shows have a lot to replace them today with social media leading the way. With people getting their sleaze from the stage to their android phones, shows such as Login on NTV or Pandonor Magazine on NBS TV literally take back seats.

For instance, if I missed Blankets and Wine on Sunday, I don’t have to wait till Wednesday or Sunday to see what happened there, I would rather scroll through the internet, catch a few videos than

wait to watch clueless girls without a slight idea of who Zahara or any other headliner is – oh which is also a reason; the girls are clueless.

Another fact is that all these lifestyle shows share the same content, what difers is usually the shades of the female presenter; some a light skinned and others look good in weird clothes.

So do we even need them?

Truth is no media can exist without entertainment but the packaging always matters. Right now Uganda is at that place where people consume a lot of entertainment and want more than who, what and where.

It’s time TVs learn that entertainment news is as perishable as any other news, there’s no need to wait for a week to see what happened at some joint when more interest

New TVs giving older ones a run for their money

Since digital migration hit Kampala on June 15, TV has not been the same, the pain of going back home only to ind solace in social media for news and current afairs, replacing live TV with hordes of interpreted movies….it’s indeed been a journey.

Others that had already moved with the times are also enjoying quite an experience, they are being catapulted into this all frenzy of new TVs launching.

One ater the other they rocked the tube without warning, for instance by morning, a set top box would be able to access about 20 channels and by evening, there would be ive more.

According to Geraldine Nakuya, an ardent GO TV subscriber since

2014, the TV station bonanza has been around since December. Much as she’s not sure about which TV came before the other, she conirms that her decoder started receiving channels she wasn’t paying for at around that time

By January, she was viewing HTV and ABS TV, even Urban TV and NBS that had not been included oicially by the pay TV was available.

“At times they were present especially in the 800s and on other times they were absent,” she says.

Today, she enjoys almost ten new very uncertain Ugandan channels like Shiro TV, Life TV, ABS, Delta, Salt and HTV among others.

Most of these TVs are using the

same template as Bukedde TV – translated foreign content, wedding shows, preachers and musical programmes duplicated in all sorts of formats.

At times, Nakuya says that when you watch them it’s like they are just testing signals though they are fully operating and indeed have schedules for each day.

Who owns them?

ABS TV is allegedly located in Kawaala and belongs to Pastor Yiga, however, even with the owners’ ailiation out in the public, the station has little to do with gospel or religious programming.

For instance, Nakuya says there was a time they were showing a ilm that had a steamy gay scene which was never edited out even

when she thought they would.

Shiro TV, at least according to the guy that mis-interprets movies on the channel notes that it belongs to Seventh day Adventists and is located somewhere in Kawempe.

Salt TV belongs to famous Pastor Aloysius Bugingo while Delta is part of the Ntake Group of companies.

What do they do?

Since they joined the market, Delta TV has at least stood out of the many new stations, they are louder than some old players and are quickly curving a niche in being an alternative to Bukedde, at least with the way they are recruiting, or we think they are. hey started of as by playing music for a full day, however, at the beginning of july, they rolled out a schedule that included Ekyemisana kya Delta done by former Record TV Katogo presenter Jonathan Jaxta.

His recruitment was followed by more speculations of comebacks of rather shamed TV stars – Anita ‘Fabiola’ Kyalimpa formerly of NTV’s Be My Date has been rumored to be working on a deal with the TV and so is Katongole Omutongole, Straka Mwezi and Robinah Mweruka among others.

While talking to the Observer, Abby Mukibi, one of the oicials at the station said they are looking at giving local content ultimate space. hus, he says the TV will be screening a local ilm at their prime time (7-9pm) on a daily basis.

Buganda Broadcasting Services (BBS) is currently causing waves in the central region recruiting from the competition.

But others are not sitting either; ABS wants to create a brand out of localizing international reality shows, they’ve already produced Funa Sponsor, a singing competition that attempts to mirror the

famous American hit, he Voice. his is however a very cheap rendition where little known artistes come and perform original compositions in home of winning the hearts of sponsors that may be watching at the time…..like really? hen there’s Cheaters, yes, it is based on the American version of the show where a partner suspecting the other goes to the TV crew asking them to follow their beloved since he or she thinks they are being unfaithful.

Of course most of the times the hatch is right, one party is indeed caught cheating.

Few of the people that have watched the Ugandan version claim that it’s an insult to the creators of the original and even question its intentions.

“One would wonder why a pastor is interested of making money out of people that are being unfaithful,” questions one Immaculate Namirembe who says she simply stumbled on ABS as she was scrolling through channels. he show hosted by one Hajati Aisha is aptly called Kalondozi, it spies on people upon the request of their loved ones. One of the episodes shows a woman smash the windscreen of her husband’s car ater nabbing him having sex in it.

ABS currently has a YouTubechannel with videos of Kalondozi and other shows, some of these have already collected more than 50,000 views in less than a month.

Other programs on the TV include Ki Kyolifa Tewerabidde where broken hearted girls cry for boyfriends that deserted them, the architect of this show is the pastor himself – he appears suave like a king on the throne, he listens to women that have waited desperately for an visitation, introduction and weddings. he most famous episode has

some girl crying for a one Aaron who let her for his Ex, in an animated way, the pastor asks the desperate girl to kneel and cry for her man to come back – the program has caused a lot of debate with many people arguing that the show is rather staged than real.

But it’s not all, ABS TV, even with a pastor as a proprietor has a rather explicit late night show aptly titled Nice Nights (Ekiro Ekirungi), the show airs from 2am – 4am, and the presenter talks suggestively while teaching viewers diferent things about love and sex.

Unlike the sengas that go on about their trade in gomesi and other traditional clothes, this presenter wears revealing attires and touches herself while rolling her eyes seductively in bed!

In fact, much as Delta TV has become a hit for recruiting people from other channels, ABS is also famous for the unorthodox content; it is easy to ind your salon or Boda guy discussing the latest episode of Kalondozi , Heart Break or Ani akalengedde, a live TV gambling show and Ki Kyolifa Tewerabidde. hough generally, many of the new channels are highly celebrated in the corridors where Luganda content succeeds; in fact both Nakuya and Namirembe admit that they learnt about these TVs from either a maid or stay home mums around them.

Why now While addressing journalists at the launch of a partnership between Multichoice, a pay TV service provider and Signet, a digital migration regulator, their Bobrich Mwechumi, Signet Engineer noted that their more beneits in embracing the migration than ighting it.

For instance, he noted that unlike the analogue system, where it was expensive for proprietors to start a

Amakula festival to start a ilm fund

Ater a very long time, the Kampala Amakula International ilm Festival once again graced the social scene. It is in the new hands of Faisal Kiwewa’s Bayimba Foundation, but that’s not all that changed, the venue, objectives and a lot more changed. Polly Kamukama writes about their most desirable ambition, the ilm fund.

Amakula International Film Festival will starting next year run a fund aimed at beneiting Ugandan ilmmakers. he announcement was made during a press brief held at the Uganda Museum in Kampala yesterday to mark the end of the festival’s tenth annual edition.

“We are in talks with our partners to come up with a ilm fund, and we are certain that starting next year local ilmmakers will be able to access it. It’s going to be highly competitive, only outstanding ilm projects will beneit from it,” Faisal Kiwewa, the festival’s new director, told journalists.

Kiwewa, who under his Bayimba Cultural Foundation has partnered with a number of locallybased arts institutions to revive Amakula following a three-year

hiatus, couldn’t give details of how much the fund will be worth. he celebrated arts manager however hinted on the fact it will be a substantial sum, able to aid in the production of at least one full length ilm every year.

“It would be nice to open the festival with the ilm that was made with the help of our funds,” Kiwewa said, revealing Durban FilmMart, Africa’s premium ilm inancing market, might come on board in providing this fund.

News of the fund should particularly be refreshing for local ilmmakers considering ilm funding in Uganda is virtually nonexistent.

Most Ugandan ilmmakers simply can’t stand the laborious process of applying for foreign grants, so they have to dig deep in their shallow pockets to bring their stories

to life.

During yesterday’s press brief, Kiwewa took a swipe at ilm regulators in Uganda, accusing them of wanting to beneit from an industry they are not supporting.

“I ind it ridiculous for Media Council (Uganda’s censorship board) to charge a very high fee on a inished ilm without caring a single bit on how it got made,” he lamented. he Media Council, through its Film Classiication Secretariat, charges a classiication fee of Shs 150,000 and $150 (about Shs 500,000) for local and foreign ilms of up to 120 minutes runtime, respectively.

For each extra minute, the Council surcharges Shs2,000 and $5 (about Shs16,000) for local and foreign ilms, respectively.

In the absence of a national ilm commission, a coalition of about ive government agencies collectively known as the Coordination Working Group (CWG) was in 2013 established to guide the development of the local sector.

Led by Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), the CWG has so far put in place a few plausible incentives such as an annual ilm festival but is yet to create the much-needed ilm fund.

Kiwewa said the decision to create such a fund is in line with the new Amakula’s ive-year development plan which focuses on developing the local ilm industry holistically. he festival’s Dutch-American founders last week endorsed Kiwewa as the right man to guide

Pic: Alice Smits, the irst director and curator of the festival noted that handing over the festival to Bayimba Foundation has been a process that started in 2013.

Uganda’s oldest and most revered independent annual cinema showcase on its new journey.

And with the fund in the oing, ilmmakers can only hope for the best.

Rwandan, Congolese ilms shine at Amakula festival Many ilms were showcased at the just concluded Amakula International Festival that took place in Kampala’s Uganda Museum but even when there was a lot to marvel about, there was no way Rogers Atukunda could escape a fact that Rwandese and Congolese ilms were really outstanding.

In a period of 100 days from April 7 to mid July 1994, members of the Hutu majority slaughtered an estimated 500,000–1,000,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda.

Since 1994, the Rwandan genocide has gone down history as one of the most horrifying post slavery stories.

Olaf Hamelink in his 8-minute short Agasanduka gives an insight into the devastating efects of the genocide including loss, abandonment and hopelessness. Agasanduka means ‘box’ in Kinyarwanda.

Twenty one years ater the genocide, a woman inds a mysterious box in a hilly rural countryside. he box has a magic pencil and he oicial art of Agasanduka book that can bring to life everything she draws.

It brings to life a rabbit she sketches on the paper, then a candle and then money. he box makes her

realize she would trade everything and anything to get her loved ones back.

She then puts all the money back into the magic box with a picture of her killed family members hoping to get them back, but alas.

“I especially was inspired by the world around me, but also by looking at a lot of websites, notes, photos and movies,” says the 23-year-old ilmmaker from Netherlands.

Kindoki Equally touching is Mania Tambwe’s 20-minute short Kindoki, which explores the plight of African immigrants in Europe. he ilm tells the story of two siblings, Pacide and Rosie, who are let in the care of their aunt and her obnoxious boyfriend, Patrick, in London because their immigrant mother is too broke to look ater them in Paris.

An award-winning motion creator

born in Africa and raised in London, Tambwe blends the modern religion with African traditional beliefs to explore the clash between superstition and Christianity.

Kindoki is thought by its believers to be a kind of witchcrat or possession by evil spirits.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Netherlands, this belief is responsible for acts of child abandonment and ritual abuse of adults and children who are thought to have fallen victim to kindoki.

Patrick, who claims to be Christian, in his unreasonable selfrighteous accuses the little brother and sister of witchcrat.

He drowns Placide in a bathtub ater torturing the kids for days while their aunt, who has been trying to escape the abusive relationship, joins in.

In this case, while Rosie only loses parental care, Placide on the other

hand loses his most precious git – his life.

Tambwe through calculated shots manages to bring out the insensitive modern world of towns to highlight the harsh realities of the events that lie beneath UK communities.

Olaf on the other hand employs beautiful cinematography panning from low-lying hills, green vegetation to domestic animals to expose the loneliness and endless sense of loss Rwandan families have endured in the post-genocide era.

Both ilms are in competition for the Best East African Short Film award at the ongoing Amakula International Film Festival.

Mugisha’s Jinxed is Uganda’s sole win at Amakula In the past, the award for the Best Short Film at Amakula International Film Festival has always gone to anyone but not a Ugandan film maker. And as many of them were shortlisted for this year’s award, they could not celebrate yet. But Jinxed won despite Ugandans losing to both Tanzania and Senegal in the other categories.

Ugandan ilmmaker Gary Mugisha’s debut ilm Jinxed yesterday took home the award for Best East African Short ilm as the tenth Amakula International Film Festival wrapped up at the Uganda Museum in Kampala. he 15-minute picture set in Kampala’s nightlife beat stif competition from six other short ilms to bag the coveted Golden Impala gong. he brief thriller, starring breakout actress Nisha Kalema as party girl Prossy who experiences a series of scary events while on a night-out, was lauded for its ine cinematography, direction and performance. “hat is a sure sign of a director in control of his medium, and the promise and potential on show in the ilm leaves us in no doubt that Gary Mugisha will be a director to watch out for in the future,” read in part the jury’s note.

Mugisha in his acceptance speech said he felt honored for his irst ilm to win an award at Uganda’s oldest and most revered ilm festival. he 26-year-old Kampala University ilm student developed the winning ilm’s script as a thesis for his diploma course under the masterful guidance of his tutor, British screenwriter Ian Masters, who coincidentally was part of the jury at this year’s Amakula.

Ugandan arts journalist Moses Serugo and Dutch performer Henk Jonker were the other members of the three-man jury. he Golden Impala award for Best East African Feature Film went to Dar Noir, a gritty black-and-white crime-drama from Tanzania, while Senegal’s 100% Dakar won the accolade for Best Documentary. his year’s Amakula, returning for its tenth annual edition ater

a three-year hiatus, boasted an eclectic programming including screenings, workshops and masterclasses. he March 16-20 cinema showcase had its major focus on promoting local ilm distribution and building a young cinema audience. he festival also ofered a drive-in cinema experience to its audience.

Speaking at a press brief ahead of the inale yesterday, the festival’s new director, Faisal Kiwewa said next year’s edition will run a competitive ilm fund aimed at beneiting outstanding Ugandan ilmmakers.

Kiwewa’s Bayimba Cultural Foundation, in partnership with a number of locally-based arts institutions, took over Amakula’s management ater the festival’s Dutch-American founders pulled out in 2012.

Le Grand Jour is an epic globe trot His 2013 documentary, On the Way to School was such a signiicant feature, reminding many urban youth that have taken school for granted how they are lucky to enjoy the service. he ilm trails children from three continents and their daily journeys to be educated. hat ilm was set in Morocco, Argentina, India and Kenya, where one Jackson and sister avoid elephants on what is described as more than a nine mile journey for almost two hours.

Le Grand Jour aptly interpreted as ‘he Big Day’, is not that diferent, it follows four children, 11 year old Albert Gonzalez Monteagudo an aspiring boxer in Havana, 15 year old Nidhi Jha, daughter of a rickshaw driver studying to enter the Super 30 math programme, over in Mongolia, 11 year old Delger-

murun ‘Deegii’ Batjargal trying to transform herself into a pretzel and in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, 19 year old Tom Ssekabira is learning all he can to pass the national exam so as to be certiied as a park ranger. he ilm maker director Pascal Plisson once again makes bold moves on this feature; though this time he seems to be making a shit from documentaries to docudrama – according to the way you may choose to look at it.

In On the Way to School, Jackson moved long distances and always avoided elephants yet in Le Grand Jour, Ssekabira was trying his best to see that such primates are protected.

True, the ilm is depicted as an adaptation where there are professional actors but it is not – in fact,

it is more of the real life characters reenacting their past. his became problematic especially with the Ugandan scenes – yes, it is well done, exotic locations and lots of handsome widescreen cinematography but the story was delivered in a rather plastic and weak way.

To make matters worse, much of it was done in English which distanced it away from any sort of emotions – at some points; the Ugandan scenes looked like a dress rehearsal rather than the real thing.

But much of the ilm is redeemed

by Gonzalez’s story, he could have been rennacting past scenes of his life but managed to make it look like it was happening in real time, his desire and passion was incomparable and most of the times

he brought on the much needed suspense.

However, the ilm doesn’t capitalize on Ugandan tourism like it was mostly communicated before, in fact, its sekabira’s desire to protect the wild that shone most – the locations selected for the ilm were not that unique to Uganda only, they were beautiful but too much of an African stereotype.

During the premiere at Century Cinema at Acacia Mall, one of the producers noted that they are dedicated to developing ilm in Uganda, including setting up Lady Bird Cinema studios in the country.

Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister was the chief guest and noted that tourism is the number one earner of this country and thus needs to be funded well.

Road to Yesterday

Road to Yesterday is a misguided journey A scene from the ilm, Road to Yesterday and besides is the oficial art.

here was a lot of excitement leading to the release of Ishaya Bako’s Road to Yesterday, this was the director’s irst feature and another fact, that lead actress Genevieve Nnaji too was making her debut as a producer. he ilm was also coming almost two or more years of the actress’ absence from the African ilm circuit, thus the coming back wasn’t only meant to be described by the term bang but an epic bomb.

Did you even see the poster?

Nnaji and her co-star with their backs facing each other and none of them even tried to be sexy –

prophesied doom but not bad enough to involve weapons, just woman or man not talking to the other party.

It’s the kind of poster that reminds of all the lame romantic movies your sisters made you watch because they had the remote – Two can play that game and its clan mates.

Road to Yesterday, which inally premiered on Africa Magic Showcase, well has way too many things going on around it; in more than one way it proves that Nnaji could as well be Nigeria’s most talented female, successfully goes nowhere though still managed to win an Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award (AMVCA) for Best Film West Africa. he ilm is about a couple experiencing problems that embarks to

.....at the beginning, much of the dialogue is lazy and useless, it neither guides nor carries the story forward...... a road trip for a burial but then turns out to be one they could easily use for discovery.

Mostly told in lashbacks – in fact almost 90% is told in lashbacks, the ilm shows us a vulnerable couple trying to understand what went wrong, why their house went silent or why they’ve become roommates than lovers of late.

Nnaji writes a relevant story and indeed using a road trip as the basis of the story was brilliant. And revealing many of the reasons for their distance on the journey was a smart way of describing our human nature, we may keep quiet for long but we shall always talk the moment we are pressed to.

But that wasn’t all, the ilm manages to keep it as real, especially with that scene where the house girl apologizes for letting their

daughter witness her parents trying to go down on the kitchen loor ater a drunken night out – guess it’s typical of all couples with maids.

British/Nigerian actor Oris Erhuerho potrays Nnaji’s disgruntled husband who has stopped trusting the wife ater inding out that their daughter isn’t his – he blames her for it though later getting to learn that he was the cause of the lustful night that saw the daughter conceived elsewhere.

In summary, Road to Yesterday has a lot of potential, in fact, it has everything it takes to be a world class short ilm but for a feature, it’s just as basic, it drags to the moment you will plead with the pay TV provider to terminate your account.

For instance, at the beginning, much of the dialogue is lazy and useless, it neither guides nor carries the story forward, in fact, it’s

ater that bizarre decision to go on a road trip that the ilm starts to have some motion but again, we are usually let down by that repetition in the dialogue….ouush it becomes painful. hen much as the cast was great, only Nnaji seemed to have brought her ‘A’ game along with her to the set, others like Majid Michael or Erhuerho were obviously absent.

For most of the ilm, you could think Erhuerho was acting for himself and cared less about his surroundings, his emotion delivery failed terribly to match that of his co – actor who unfortunately was stuck in shots with him. As a result, it became a case of bad ruins good every ive seconds. hen comedian Chigurl, (I learnt about this one from MI’s Monkey) – well, if there was an irrelevant cast, it was deinitely this person.

She was supposed to be the pivotal person that introduced Nnaji’s Victoria to Majid’s…whatever he was, and from him, Erhuerho’s Izu got to meet Victoria. All this happened in less than ive minutes, but Chigurl’s presence was not felt, neither in comic relief or inluence, if they told you that she was the soda in the bottles, you will just believe that because you will be trying as hard to it her somewhere. he ending is though the most beautiful part of the ilm – not that we badly wanted to see it out but that twist that took us from the hotel to the hospital, then replaying the actual tragic night was both emotional and creative.

Regardless of the short comings, Road to Yesterday is still a strong movie and force in both Nigerian and African ilm industries especially with the technical prowess of sound, editing and production design.

B’ella: A perfect African story In between their pre-colonial past and the present – the village and the city are usually used as collage to bring this to life.

One of the settlements that rose from the conversation ater Malawian ilm B’ella premiered at Amakula International Film Festival was a fact that many times western producers make ilms and deem them African yet they are indeed presenting a story of that particular community as opposed to the entire continent.

Well that was an argument by famous playwright Deborah Asiimwe ater the screening, yet, in more than one way, B’ella can indeed be shopped around as that perfect African story, not just Malawi.

B’ella is that one ilm that encompasses many things that are relevant to a soul that grew up in Uganda, Kenya or Tanzania, yet the ilm was shoot far of in the outskirts of Malawi; tackling is-

sues that are important and close to our hearts, teenage pregnancies, HIV and Aids, teacher and student relationships and of course on compass relationships.

In fact during the screening, one of the people in the Museum main hall tweeted that with the sound muted, the ilm would perfectly it a portrait of a local ilm – maybe it hard a lot to do with a fact that much as Malawi is in the far south of the continent, they do share many things as far as character and mannerisms are concerned with the people of Uganda.

In B’ella, you saw that high school babe that made your heart stutter, like her onscreen double; she was born again and could only approve of a relationship if you accepted to meet her senior pastor.

We also saw a research that was

carried out in Uganda in 2015 and published in the Daily Monitor about sex workers being afraid of pregnancy than HIV come to life, especially when one of B’ella’s friends wasn’t afraid of sleeping around to raise money for an abortion. he same facts have been found in Zimbabwe and South Africa, but they were not just negatives that made B’ella an African ilm – the cinematography and the entire production was one that is peculiar to many of our ilms.

It was the kind that showed that in Africa, we don’t have to use the technical depth or amorphous cameras to break through, but our story is the weapon B’ella presents many stories dear to many Africans and in a way; they don’t forget such salient features

like comedy, religion and fashion.

In fact, many times, African ilms regardless of where they are made present situations of conlict especially where people are caught in between their pre-colonial past and the present – the village and the city are usually used as collage to bring this to life.

Of course it comes into play with B’ella, where there’s a new girl Kalilole in the village school, she wears hair extensions, high heels, classy in all ways and dedicated to be the most famous person in the school.

In fact her arrival sees B’ella lose her friends she once used to go to church, sing in choir and others she used to hang with desert her – something common about the way we treated our norms the moment we saw a guy walk of a plane with

a smart phone.

B’ella is Africa and how we are inally trying to appreciate what makes us unique and inally believing all the slogans like ‘Black is power’ or Black is beautiful’.

According to the synopsis, the ilm is about the coming of age of a 17 year old Malawian girl wrestling with the intersections of traditional life and the new role of girls in a modern day Malawi.

But besides that, B’ella is a beautiful picture, it may have had issues with the sound especially at the beginning, but it gets better as the ilm goes on. Vinjeru Kamanga pulls it of as the strong willed yet naïve B’ella, according to a Malawi publication, she’s mostly been known as a theatre actor and she is simply transitioning to ilm.

Her performance here was mostly natural that she even managed to drag her co-actors we could easily deem weak.

Chimwemwe Mkwezalamba portrays Kalilole is quite memorable, she was B’ella’s ierce enemy though in real life, it’s said the two are best friends. he ilm has been successful both in Malawi and the continent bagging a nomination at the Africa Movies Academy Awards for the Best First Feature Film by director Tawonga Taddja.

It’ was also in competition for Amakula International Film Festival for the Best International Feature Film alongside Felista’s Fable, Bala Bala Sese and Dar Noir.

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