Leisure
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Nigerian actress graces launch of Uganda film festival
KAMAPALA, UGANDA - the second edition of the Uganda Film Festival (UFF) organised by Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), that kicked off last week saw a number of actors and actresses in Uganda convene at the UCC offices to celebrate the Ugandan film industry.
This year’s Uganda Film Festival edition s theme ‘Empowering Ugandans through Film’ and it will run from August 25 to 29.
Among the guests was famous Nigerian actress Patience Ozokwor who flew all the way from Nigerian to come and inspire the Uganda actresses and actors on how they too can uplift the film industry to a level that the Nigerian film industry has reached
Ozokwor who is famous and admired by many for her great acting talent advised Ugandan actors on how they can develop the Film industry in Uganda. She advised the actors for example to take part in advertisement dramas and films as this would help them grow as actors. It would also help their talent reach wider audiences.
She also called upon them to arise and tell their own stories and avoid imitating the European films and society.
“gone are the days when the African stories were told by Europeans, this is the time we arise and tell our own stories which can best tell through our music, dances, drama and films” she said
Speaking at the launch, the Executive Director of UCC, Mr Godfrey Mutabazi, said UFF 2014 aims to build capacity for Uganda’s local film industry through interaction and training with experts both Ugandan and external.
To achieve this, he said UCC had introduced an award in which the actors and actresses in Uganda would be accorded different awards so as to boast their performance and thus uplift the Uganda film industry
The following 13 awards categories will be contested for: Best Cinematography, Best Documentary, Best Student Film, Best Feature Film, Best Animation, Best Costumes, and Best Sound. Others are Best Screen Play, Best Short Film, Film of the Year, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best East African Film.
Mutabazi said “the Commission, has set July 17, 2014 as the deadline for submission of entries. “Unlike last year, we have a regional category - the Best East African Film. This shows we are going regional,” he said, adding, “Who knows we will cover the entire African continent soon?”
Popularly known as MaMa G, Ozokwor has starred in over 200 movies. These include: I Need a Husband (2007), In the Name of the Lord (2007), After My Heart (2008), Battle of Religion (2008), Act of Faith (2008), A Date with Destiny (2009), Web of Mistake (2009), Love in Berlin (2009), Scent of a Woman (2010), Buried in Heaven (2010), Total Sin (2010), Power of a Kiss (2011), Sisters at War (2010), Blood on Fire (2011), Sisters on Fire (2011), and A Dance for the Prince (2011).
By Winnie Mandela, Saturday, June 21st, 2014