Writer Coutinho Kemiyondo. PHOTO/COURTESY
She has also appeared in films The Underdoggs, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Ride Along, and Knuckles, among others.
Unt. Sisters has a star-studded cast including Bresha Webb (Run the World), EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg, Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), Tika Sumpter, and more. In addition to Perry, the film’s producers include Sumpter, Angi Bones, Tony Strickland, and Will Areu, with Coutinho serving as executive producer.
Coutinho, who gained widespread recognition for her short film Kyenvu, which won numerous awards at international film festivals, is no stranger to breaking boundaries.
Her work on P-Valley further cemented her reputation as a bold and thoughtful writer, and now with Unt. Sisters in Italy marks her first foray into studio films on a global scale.
Kemiyondo is not a new name on Uganda’s art scene; she is one of the people behind the now famous Aka Dope showcases between 2017 and 2019. Through performances in places such as The Square, Design Hub, and Kurb in Kamwokya, it was a platform for Uganda’s mushrooming neosoul scene.
Aka Dope later graduated into a band where some of the artistes such as Essie, who had been showcased on one of the shows, became the lead singer.
But music was not the only thing Kemiyondo was part of while in Kampala. In fact, her strength in the arts has always been acting, writing, and directing. She has, for instance, over the years been part of theatre productions such as Judith Adong’s Silent Voices before later writing and directing Kawuna: You’re It and the ward-winning Kyenvu.
Kawuna: You are It is a one-woman show exploring themes of Hiv/Aids and its effects. In the play, Kemiyondo portrayed three characters: a child left behind because of Hiv/Aids, an ex-soldier who contacted Hiv during war, and a middle-class woman who contacts Hiv while in marriage.
The mixed media production also included footage of interviews of women affected by the disease.
Kyenvu, on the other hand, is a short film about a relationship brewed at a taxi stop; what follows the meeting is a chase between a boy and girl. However, things take a dark turn when the girl is taken advantage of because of her choice of wardrobe.
Kyenvu culminated Kemiyondo to global prominence, winning awards for Best Narrative Short at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles and getting a nomination for Best Short Film at the Uganda Film Festival.
But the film was selected in various festivals both on the continent and beyond.
A recipient of Forbes Africa 30 under 30, Kemiyondo plays double dutch between hard-hitting themes and sharp-biting comedic commentary; the through line in all her work remains making people feel seen.
Over the years, she has garnered multiple international awards, including NBC Universal’s Harness Social Impact Award, the inaugural recipient of John Singleton’s Filmmaker’s Fellowship, Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Filmmaking Fellowship, Shadow and Act’s Rising Star Award, and has been named one of OKAYAfrica’s 100 Women of Africa To Watch.
She also founded the Five for Five initiative, where she funded five women filmmakers, to make five-minute short films.
