Maisha’s African Film Festival

Aug 15, 2011

FILM Festivals in Uganda, more recently the Japanese Film Festival at Cineplex and the Amakula Film Festival at National Theatre, have recorded low turn-ups.

By Emmanuel Ssejjengo

FILM Festivals in Uganda, more recently the Japanese Film Festival at Cineplex and the Amakula Film Festival at National Theatre, have recorded low turn-ups.

But that was until the Maisha Annual African Film Festival kicked off last year. The National Theatre auditorium became too small for a film festival audience.

At the end of the festival, we pondered how Maisha had managed this feat. First, Maisha had created a committed following of filmmakers since 2005 through its annual labs. But then again, Maisha has been consistent with its quality of film and have managed to produce Ugandan films that do not belong to that Kina-Uganda category.

So after five years of a consistent Maisha, the benefits were clear to a naked eye. And that is why starting today at 12:00pm until Sunday, you may need to rush to Makerere University’s Main Hall between 4:00pm to 6:00pm to get good viewing seats for a popular festival. Experience from last year’s edition predicts that if you do not heed the warning, you will miss out.

Several films from across Africa will be screened throughout the weekend. Predictably, the point of focus will be the short films that resulted from the 2011 recently concluded Maisha film lab. A total of four of these new films will be screened and presented by the Maisha founder, Mira Naira, herself an Oscar nominee.

However, only one Ugandan film; Kengere by Peter Muhumuza, will feature in this category. But Matt Bish’s State Research Bureau, Mariam Ndagire’s Where We Belong and Carol Kamya’s Fire Fly will also be screened.

A total of 28 African films will be screened. Entrance to the festival is free of charge!

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