THE AMAKULA 2016 JURY STATEMENT OF THE WINNING FILMS:
MOSES
It has been a particular pleasure for the three jury members to be able to see the best features and short films on offer from the region. And this year, the variety and depth of content and approach has been both impressive and inspiring.
From philosophical rapped visual poems, to magic realist stories of hope, from despair to love, forgiveness and friendship the Amakula Festival has opened the door to a rich and varied cinematic experience for audiences in Uganda.
The downside of such a range and breath of films is how difficult it has been to select winners for the Golden Impala Awards. The jury decision had to be unanimous and we have had many long discussions about the merits and promise of filmmakers from all over the region. But…we have to decide on one winner for each category.
HAND OVER TO IAN
For the feature films we were impressed by the technical quality and the emotional range on offer. We laughed and cried with schoolgirls in Malawi, wallowed through the despair of Dar Es Salaam’s seedy underbelly. We watched with trepidation as a student in Zanzibar took unbelievable risks to continue her passion for study. We wept and laughed through the capers of Felista’s Fable, and followed a tangled story of love on Sese island.
We were particularly impressed by the bold attempt by Lukyamuzi Bashir to draw attention to the HIV/ Aids pandemic by tracing its roots but more specifically, the casting, visual appeal of the film and the future of the Ugandan cinema in paying attention to socially conscious stories as well as the aesthetics of good cinema. Which is why it gets a strong recommendation from the jury.
But it was on the streets of Dar that the jury really felt swept away and engaged in a story of moral bankruptcy and corruption. Ever since Tsotsi burst onto the scene, the allure of urban Africa as a storyworld for movies has grown. But with Dar Noir we saw a deliberate move away from social realism approach to this context and a real embrace of the noir genre transposed from Bunker Hill in LA or the Bronx in New York to the seedy underworld of Dar-es-Salaam. This wasn’t the Nollywood melodrama crime caper but a deeply empathetic character study of a cop so closely tied to the morally bankrupt world around him that no matter how hard he tries, he cannot escape. But even in the darkest moments of the film there is a lightness in the dialogue and a genuine tenderness in the relationship between the central character and Iman the prostitute. The editing, music, cinematography and performances all seduce the audience and suck them into a world which they think they know but which the filmmaker has made original and poignant and above all engaging. Despite some inconsistencies in the stylistic approach and some lapses in technical quality this was a filmmaking tour-de-force from writer, director and star Hamadi Mwapachu . Dar Noir may be know in the future as the film that launched a sub-genre of East African noir and we wish the director every success in his future endeavours. It is therefore with pride that we present to him the Golden Impala for the Best Feature film.
HAND OVER TO HENK
For the short films again the jury were spoilt for choice with the range on offer – not just in the subject matters but the directorial risks that were taken with style and approach to storytelling in an African context. I am sure you have all appreciated this too through the screening programme. From Kai the Vendor’s neo-realist approach to life on the streets, to Rastosophical Mood, Silent Depression and My Prison Diary – a combination of essay documentaries and philosophical visual poems – we were shown that filmmaking in the region is in good shape and full of promise.
We were particularly impressed with Agasanduka, the magic realist story from Rwanda – a unique and original approach with an almost fairytale like quality, which approached the legacy of the genocide in a truly fresh way.
But we had to choose a winner. After much deliberation, the cinematic tone, the assured direction, cinematography and the fine performances of one short film really stood out. This film took us into a dark noir-like world of pimps and corrupt cops and serial killers with the pace never letting up. We were asked to abandon all hope as we passed with Nisha Kalema as if into Dante’s “city of woe in a gloomy wood astray”. But there was also a lightness of touch to the somber material as when she climbs into the taxi in the final frame and we see the scar. As an audience we’re not sure whether this was a playful joke or an indictment of current society. But what we are sure of is that we were taken on a journey with the character, and the film sucked in its audience and never let them go until the end credits. That is a sure sign of a director in control of his medium and the promise and potential on show in the film leaves us in no doubt that Gary Mugisha will be a director to watch out for in the future. The Amakula Jury are therefore proud to present the Golden Impala to Gary Mugisha and hope that we will see much more from him in years to come.
HAND OVER TO MOSES
As the jury we were however a little disappointed that only one documentary was entered into the competition. Documentary as a narrative and expressive cinematic form is rich and varied and we would like to see many more documentaries submitted in future editions of the Amakula Film Festival. However, we were pleasantly impressed by 100% Dakar the only documentary submitted. The story of Millennial Senegalese artistes doing more than just escapist art and weaving activism into their craft was particularly impressive. If ever there were a people who personify Afropolitanism, the rappers, designers, photographers and dancer-choreographers profiled in 100% Dakar fit the bill….100%.
The Golden Impala therefore goes to director Krampelhuber
