Ugandan film lands global fellowship

A Ugandan movie is promising to make film lovers turn their eyes and attention to the Pearl of Africa if its potential cast is confirmed. Mr Otim, a movie by filmmaker Isaac Oboth, lists Winston Duke, Brian Ogola, Daniel Kaluya, Melvin Alusa, Forest Whitaker, Ntare Guma, Esteri Tebandeke, Patricia Kihoro, Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usama and Ciryl Gane as the potential cast on the movie deck.

The feature film logline rotates around a 36-year-old math teacher who finds out his son, Michael, has a heart condition and needs a life-saving surgery. He has to take on a second job as a kickboxer. 

The synopsis follows the story 15 years prior, and events that lead to the challenge. Twenty-year-old Otim is in the boxing heavyweight finals at the 1994 Commonwealth Games but his family elders visit his fiancé’s home for bride price negotiations. 

Otim’s future father-in-law rejects the offer and issues an ultimatum. If Otim is to get married to his daughter, he (Otim) must give up boxing and pursue a more dignified career. 

Back in the ring, Otim is knocked out. Then 15 years later, Otim is a math teacher and happily married to his fiancé from earlier. With a sick son, he learns about Amal, a social enterprise that might be able to help. 

On visiting Amal, he discovers that the Gaddafi Foundation funds them, and they only provide support to Muslims, which Otim is not. Hajj, the head of operations at Amal, is a huge boxing fan. 

He finds out about Mr Otim’s former glory days as a boxer. Hajj sympathises with Otim and figures out a way to help. 

The movie director, Oboth, explains: “When I was in primary school in Uganda, we had our first break every day at 10:30am. It only lasted 20 minutes. Just long enough to go to the bathroom and have a quick snack, but too short to play any sport. So, to entertain ourselves, my peers and I often re-enacted scenes from our favourite films. I watched my classmates transform into Sylvester Stallone's Rambo, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator, and Jean-Claude Van Damme's Kickboxer.”

“A film such as Mr Otim has never been made in our part of the world. This will be the very first of its kind. Mr Otim is a heartfelt, epic sports film about a black African man stepping up for his family when they most need him,” he adds.

Mr Otim was recently selected as one of six projects from around the world to participate in the Creative Development Track for the film independent-run Global Media Makers (GMM) fellowship. 

It was the fellowship’s only feature film project from Africa. Oboth observes that one of the good things about the GMM fellowship is the quality of the questions posed to us by our mentors.

“One of the most profound questions was, What does success look like for you with this film? This is a big question that can leave you thinking for a while. Surprisingly for me, the answer came almost instantly and with vivid clarity. Success for me with this film is to return to my former self,” Oboth, a self-taught filmmaker and founder of Media 256, explains. 

Two Hollywood producers are in Uganda on a scouting sojourn on possible shooting locations. The producers are Effie Brown, the chief executive officer of Gamechanging Films, which has produced Sundance winners such as Real Women Have Curves, Dear White People, and Rocket Science.

Dana Sims is a leading talent representative in the entertainment industry who has worked with Ludacris, Jill Scott, Common, Erykah Badu, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Kirk Franklin.

Heddwyn Kyambadde will produce the film. He has known Oboth for years as a friend and creative colleague in the industry, so it was a no-brainer for his company, Bweru Films, to work together on the story. 

Kyambadde further explains, “Growing up similarly loving cinema and our passion for the African stories in particular that are under-represented makes telling a powerful story such as this, natural. 

Mr Otim speaks to me in ways a movie such as John Q did, by placing a desperate man in an uncomfortable situation he simply cannot afford to lose.”

He says the time frame for production of the movie is slated for mid 2025. Discussion around release date is still ongoing but plans place release around early 2026.