By Our Reporter
The Kampala Film Development Foundation (KFDF) has partnered with the U.S Embassy in Uganda to organize the first ever Film and Cultural Week.
The three-day event is slated to take place starting May 28 to May 30 in Kampala. The Film and Cultural Week will be an annual event. The event themed ‘Film as a Tool for Cultural Expression and Economic Development’ will feature different activities including filming workshops, music, dance and poetry.
There will also be exhibitions, screenings for Ugandan and American short and feature films, music performances, as well as discussions on the film business.
Participants will have an opportunity to meet with the directors, actors, producers, screenwriters, and composers involved in the making of the featured films.
“This event seeks to remind the young people that working together on protecting and developing the cultural diversity and exchange in our communities through Film for economic development is a long-lasting and important process that has recently started and should be kept going on, for as long as possible,” Godfrey Musinguzi, the Director and Programs Director at Kampala Film Development Foundation said, ahead of the event.
Organizers say the objectives of the Film and Cultural Week include; providing a forum for young Film makers from Uganda and USA communities to experiment and share their talents with a wide public, attracting film related investments, and urging for policies that support the film industry.
Musinguzi added that; “We also want to use the three days to educate and empower citizens about film production and its impacts, and also to strengthen grassroots infrastructure to create a productive co-production climate for Film between Uganda and USA”.
The Film and Cultural Week is funded by the U.S Mission in Uganda. Through this five-year partnership, different players – studios, designers and content creators – in the filmmaking industry will be flown into the country to interact with local filmmakers.
To be hosted by renowned emcee, actor and media personality, Roger Mugisha, the Film and Cultural Week will be a hybrid event (both virtual and physical), with at least 200 people expected to attend physically, in line with the Covid guidelines. It’s a free event and registration is ongoing on the KFDF website https://www.kfdf.org/filmandculturalweek
The U.S Ambassador to Uganda, Natalie E. Brown and Minister of State for Gender and Culture, Peace Mutuuzo will officiate at the event. Other guests include the Executive Director of Uganda National Cultural Centre (UNCC) and a representative from the Uganda Film Council.
Filmmakers and other stakeholders in the film ecosystem will use the three-day event to network among themselves but also discuss opportunities for distributing locally produced films to the broader market.