Feature film The Ugandan will launch in Uganda in May this year, following its
world premiere held in Boston, USA in December. It recently won the Best
Narrative Feature Film award at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival.
Positioned as an action drama, The Ugandan lays bare a dark past in East Africa
when one of the continent’s most notorious dictators ruled with the proverbial
iron fist.
Says the film’s director Patrick Sekyaya: “It is a riveting story of lies, love and
xenophobia, where we get a peek into the legacy of former president Idi Amin’s
Uganda and the challenges of inter-racial relationships in a country where
polarisation created a deep mistrust on all sides.’
The Ugandan revolves around an Indian survivor of Idi Amin’s Dada regime, who
is blackmailed by his Ugandan girlfriend when he claims his father’s property.
Drama unfolds when his daughter falls in love with the girlfriend’s brother.
Sekyaya wrote the film and co-produced with Alvin Kasule under Afriplus Films.
The Ugandan is Sekyaya’s third feature film after Nafulu and Origin of Sin.
“This is a film that seeks to evoke feelings and desires, by emphasising moments
of the everyday relationships of the Ugandans and Asians living in Uganda,’ he
notes.
Sekyaya believes The Ugandan is important for the African film industry because
it clearly shows how African stories are better told by Africans than by Hollywood
filmmakers.
“This is something I really wanted to put forward with this film,’ Sekyaya
continues. “For example, in Mississippi Masala Mira Nair also focuses on the
same theme of Ugandans and Indians after Amin Dada. But the difference is that
The Ugandan focuses on the Ugandan dilemma and events, unlike the
Mississippi Masala where the Asians end up in Mississippi and the rest of the film
focuses on their life there.’
Shot entirely on location in the capital city Kampala and the small town of Jinja,
the cast includes Arfan Ahmed, Dora Mwima, Edlyin Sabrina, Tony Katabula,
Halima Nakamula and Sekyaya himself.
He explains that it was tough securing the Asian cast due to deep rooted
mistrust and friction between Ugandans and Asians caused by Amin’s expulsion
of Asians.
“The Indians I approached were not quite sure if it would be safe for them to act
in the film. However, later I approached the Indian Association of Uganda and
pitched to them the idea of the film and they welcomed it.’
During filming the crew had to control huge crowds who caused delays as many
people were keen to see a shoot with Indian actors on set.
Although the film was completed with a budget of $35 000 it was initially
budgeted at $52 000. For Sekyaya this was a big budget because so far his
films have been completed with budgets of below $35 000.
