Uganda is not alone, though. South Africa and Nigeria have more established film industries and can hinder their outlook. Therefore, Uganda faces strong competition within Africa as well as outside. Adding to this, Nigeria is notorious for pirating movies which make the film industry lack-worthy of profit. Yet, Uganda tries to counter competition from Nigeria by producing quality in their films not found in Nigeria. Nigeria's films are described as "makeshift" by Moses Serugo, an arts journalist specializing in East African film (Kagumire). Uganda, on the other hand, tries to implement events and dramatics from Ugandan history. Uganda film explores experimentation works, short films, and works that can influence the international community (Omope). One film, Imani, explores the character of a child soldier from the eyes of a Ugandan--easily forgotten from the eyes of UN leaders and The Economist writers (Omope). The film garnered many awards within Africa, and it shows the boundaries that Uganda filmmakers would take to put Uganda on a map lined up to Hollywood.
Uganda has a tough road ahead in its film industry. It lacks safety nets and medical attention to its actors (i.e. medical ambulances in case of injury on set). Piracy prevents professional actors and actresses from committing to film work. Uganda has no support from the government to aid in film production, and to top it off the economy does not fare too well. Filmmakers also lack the required and wanted equipment for them to compete with other countries. CD's are difficult to come by. High definition cameras are too expensive and outside their budgets. Locations are limited as well, due to high costs of filming in homes, forcing filmmakers to work in undesirable sets. Yet, with all these problems, aspirations remain high. Who Killed Captain Alex? received over 2 million views on Youtube, and is expecting a sequel (Quibley).
(Quibley) http://www.geekosystem.com/who-killed-captain-alex/
(Omope) http://www.africanscreens.com/africanfilms/read_interview.php?interviews_id=7
(Kagumire) http://www.cannesvupar.com/telling-the-story-against-all-odds-state-of-uganda-film-industry/
This is very interesting and I believe that the film industry and art in general can have a huge role to play in developing countries. Through the media and art many Ugandans can provide societal and political commentary that would be hard to do through media outlets that could be state run or influenced. Especially with today's technology and social media sites which can help individuals reach out to the population. Another huge contribution it would provide is that it gives Ugandans the ability to present with their own voice and reach across the world. Because what we see in film and the media has greatly been filtered where we all think of the "poor african people". Thus i think that it is great that Ugandans are portraying historical events in their film and what has happened and happening.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that Uganda is starting to develop a film industry. An expansion of industry generally correlates with higher levels of prosperity in a country (if a country were too poor there would be no economic incentive for luxury entertainment industries to grow) Obviously Uganda cannot compete with the United States in the international market, but with growth the Ugandan film industry could well in the domestic and african markets, despite threats from nigerian piracy.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post because it represents promise for the country of Uganda and any developing country with a budding film industry. Looking at the film industry in the United States I know that it generates immense revenue both nationally and internationally. This is because unlike other industries the film industry has become completely globalized. If I feel like it I can watch a Swedish movie and in turn people in Sweden can watch an American movie.
ReplyDeleteThe film industry in India, an arguably developing country, is how I know that the budding film industry in Uganda will benefit the country positively. In India Bollywood produces on average 1000 films per year. These films, according to bollywoodcountry.com, were set to top revenues of $3.3 billion by 2010 as it rides new technologies and a booming economy set to expand at the rate of 18 percent per year." It is also one of the largest employment sectors in the country, according to the website. This is good for Uganda, which desperately needs more jobs. It is also good because a strong economy usually leads to a stable democracy. In region rife with instability anything that can bring stability, like a developing film industry, should be welcomed and embraced.
http://bollywoodcountry.com/factoids.php#3
I like the spin on this blog post compared to the rest. Like you said, last week we were learning about pretty heavy topics, so it was nice to see a positive and funny post. When thinking about Uganda, it is usually thought of as a negative place. HIV/AIDS is immensely huge here and they have been know to have problems in the past. I think that the start of the film industry will greatly impact this country in a positive way. The producers can only start somewhere and considering they are a hit on YouTube shows that they have potential. There is hope for a huge revenue boom in Uganda with the start of the film industry. Just like the people above me have said, it has worked in other countries, especially the United States. My questions here include: why didn't these films start earlier? Are they hoping to raise enough money just off of YouTube for better film equipment or are they going to take it to the big screen? It will be interesting to see how this affects the economy of Uganda.
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