Makula, Unheard, and The Last Shoemaker by Ugandan filmmakers Nisha Kalema, Polly Kamukama and Ali Musoke respectively received nominations in the upcoming awards edition
Tonight, Africa’s biggest names in film will come together to celebrate a successful year at the Balmoral Centre in Ikeja, Nigeria. Every year, filmmakers from the continent and in the diaspora converge to toast to the biggest films the continent has produced, while looking forward to the future.
Through conversations, workshops and markets, some of the creative minds try to forge ways to ensure African cinema enjoys part of the market share Hollywood has. But the biggest celebration, however, are the AMA awards where filmmakers win and lose awards.
This year, three Ugandan films are nominated in two categories- the Best African Language Film and Best Short Film.
Films Makula, Unheard, and The Last Shoemaker by Ugandan filmmakers Nisha Kalema, Polly Kamukama and Ali Musoke respectively received nominations in the upcoming AMA awards edition.
Makula, a winner for Best Feature Film at this year's Uganda Film Festival is up for Best African Language Film. Makula is a story about a woman who gets married into a human and organ trafficking family and finds herself trying to fight for her freedom.
The film racked up various nominations at UFF’s award gala, winning many in the process and in the course of the year, it has been showcased in various festivals winning some awards such as Best East African Film and Best Actress at the Zanzibar International Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature Film at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival and couple of nominations elsewhere.
Then there is journalist turned filmmaker, Polly Kamukama, whose film Unheard, directed by Joseph Sebaggala Zenken, is based on a series of real life events. The film follows one woman's quest to save a fishing landing site in a village where women are not allowed to fish.
The film was bankrolled by Uganda Communications Commission through the Content Support Programme and could not compete for any awards at the Uganda Film Festival this year. However, it was a big winner at the iKon Awards that were held at Kampala Serena early this year.
The film will go against Nisha Kalema’s Makula for Best African Language Film where they will face off with the Netflix original Jagun Jagun from Nigeria, Kaka and Out of Breath, also from Nigeria.
Ali Musoke’s globe trotting short film The Last Shoemaker is not surprising in the Best Short Film category. In the past many years, it's hard to think of one Ugandan film that has done a festival circuit like this film. From a self tailored premiere at the Matatu Film Stage last year, the film has gone from Kampala to Berlin and back. The Last Shoemaker follows a young girl's quest to save the family legacy, a shoe making company that has gone bankrupt.
The film faces competition from Dear Future Wife from South Africa, Seben from Mali, Sins of a Father from Zimbabwe, and Isolated from Nigeria among others.
This is not the first time a Ugandan film has been nominated for the awards.
