Michael Wawuyo Jr. who plays Omar in the new Netflix original, Katera of the Punishment Island, says the film is one of the hardest productions he has worked on in his 16-year acting career.
Plugged caught up with Wawuyo Jr. at the recent iKon Awards at Kampala Serena Hotel after he won Best Actor in a Lead Role for his role in The Girl in the Yellow Jumper (2020).
He said winning the accolade “was like God saying I gatchu”. Although he admits it was a big surprise considering in the category, he was up against stiff competition including his dad whose performance in Kafa Coh he says was “very amazing”.
The 37-year-old actor is alive to the fact that The Girl in the Yellow Jumper had a significant impact on him, even financially.
“Then there are the connections. I have gotten to know different filmmakers from that streaming giant (Netflix). It’s less about the monetary perspective but more about the connections,” Wawuyo Jr. who rose to fame following his character (Brother John) in Season 1 of NTV Uganda’s drama series The Hostel, told Plugged in an interview.
Wawuyo Jr. has so far been directed by Loukman Ali on four projects; two short films – Sixteen Rounds, The Blind Date and Katera of the Punishment Island – and one feature film – The Girl in the Yellow Jumper.
However, before that, the two had worked together on Beneath The Lies, the 2014 drama series in which Wawuyo Jr. featured and Loukman was the Director of Photography.
The actor told Plugged that working with Loukman is “crazy”.
“He’s crazy. I love Loukman, he’s a fantastic filmmaker, he is amazing and also, he’s crazy. Crazy in the sense that he is authentically different. His visuals, his creative takes to situations and film are unorthodox. And I love that very much about him,” he added.
“When I work with him, it poses a challenge for me but it’s like a fresh time to be challenged. We click creatively. On and off set.”
On Wednesday, Netflix premiered the short film – Katera of the Punishment Island – which is among the six projects (from Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda) commissioned by Netflix and UNESCO.
Loukman Ali is a Ugandan screenwriter and film director. At the age of 8, he fell in love with filmmaking and started learning various skill sets by watching "How To" videos on YouTube. His short film 'Katera of the Punishment Island' is now streaming on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/5ItFrT3c0a
— Netflix Kenya (@NetflixKE) March 29, 2023
Loukman’s story was among the over 2,000 entries received by UNESCO when it put out a call for the ‘African Folk Tales Reimagined’ competition. An international jury then sieved the best 21 projects and further narrowed them to the final 6.
The perks included Loukman like each of the other 5 finalists winning $25,000 (Ush 92.5m) and a production grant of $75,000 (Ush 277.5m) to create their short film with a local production company.
With this initiative, UNESCO sought to support the young generation of African filmmakers and promote the continent’s cultural diversity.
In the Loukman-directed film, Wawuyo Jr. plays Omar, a fisherman who rescues a group of girls including Katera (Tracy Kababiito) from the punishment island and helps them escape to safety.
But Katera won’t relent until she has settled her scores with Gregory, a ruthless military officer and colonial collaborator who killed her father and sister, before dumping her (Katera) on an island to die. It stars Michael Wawuyo Jr. and Tracy Kababiito while the cast also includes Michael Wawuyo, River Dan Rugaju and Eron Ntuulo Matovu.
The story also has love theme – a girl who will stop at nothing to save a man he loves who is about to be hanged by Gregory.
The film’s dialogue is in Rukiga, Runyankole and English. Loukman also employed Luganda and Runyankole soundtracks to deliver the message.
Wawuyo Jr. told Plugged Katera of the Punishment Island “is one of the hardest productions I have worked on in my career”
“It was a challenge. It posed a challenge for both Loukman and myself. Loukman and I are very collaborative in terms of our creative gifts. But this one pushed us to the limit. We were doing things we had never done before, we were doing stunts we have never done before,” he recounted.
He and Kababiito had to endure the draining process of perfecting physical stunts. A clip from the filming footage recently shared by Loukman shows Kababiito falling off a racing horse.
“And we had to shoot them (stunts) live on location yet we had never traveled there to rehearse that. It was a new environment. And to think we were given the shoes or the mandate to represent Uganda in a global perspective, it was a lot on our shoulders,” Wawuyo Jr. adds.
The team filmed on location in Kisoro, Moroto, Jinja, Lugazi among other places, and the film showcases some of Uganda’s scenic landscapes.
Loukman recently revealed that Wawuyo Jr.’s character was inspired by Mwanga II who was Kabaka of Buganda from 1884 to 1888 and from 1889 to 1897. In the film, Omar is draped in a turban which was Mwanga’s signature headwear.
The actor told Plugged he was aware that he was representing one of Uganda’s most prominent historical figures and that he had to prepare for that. However, he notes that though Omar and Mwanga lived in the same period, their personas differed.
“To be able to pull inspiration from a historical figure was challenging but fantastic. It was like a breath of fresh air and I had to keep digging.”
He also describes the feeling he got on learning that he was teaming up with Tracy Kababiito on the Netflix project as ecstatic. Considering he has mentored and groomed her under his wing, he says the experience was fun.
The very first time the two worked together was on Pearl Magic Prime’s drama series Sanyu where Tracy was the lead actress (Sanyu) while Wawuyo Jr. was her assistant director.
The Girl in the Yellow Jumper was Loukman’s very first feature film. Ironically, while it has won him several accolades (including Uganda’s first Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award in 9 years) and scored Uganda its first production on Netflix, the director has always underrated it (the film) especially because it was an experimental project.
“And the only reason for that (feeling) is because I know I can do better,” he told Plugged at the iKon awards gala on Saturday.
That notwithstanding, the cinematographer, screenwriter and graphic designer admits the width and breadth of the film’s recognition opened doors for his subsequent works.
“Once people start knowing you, it’s a lot easier to sell your work. I guess you could say it has done that for me. It’s a lot easier to get people to watch my films. It’s a big deal because I have always wanted to have an audience and I’m starting to get it. And I’m so happy about that,” he added.
Many filmmakers attest to the fact that it is quite difficult getting your foot into platforms such as Netflix especially if you are still cutting your teeth in filmmaking, with no credentials. The process (of pitching to these streaming giants) gets a little easier if one has an agent or a distributor, which most local filmmakers lack but also which is costly. Like major studios, streaming companies deal with particular (certified) distributors who understand their technical requirements such as how to aptly make delivery.
One would be quick to assume The Girl in the Yellow Jumper turned the odds in Loukman’s favor when it came to pitching for the latest UNESCO/Netflix project. But he says otherwise.
“They (UNESCO) sent out an open invitation. Actually, the people that picked me didn’t know I had a movie on Netflix. It wasn’t until later we were in South Africa that a Nigerian guy was like… ‘Wait a minute. You’re Loukman, we got one of your films before’. All these other candidates from the different African countries, these were their first projects on Netflix,” he told Plugged.
The story of the punishment island is a real Ugandan story. In 18th century Kigezi (Southwest of Uganda), a tradition thrived. Unmarried girls who got pregnant were considered a disgrace to their families. So, as a punishment, these girls were taken to a tiny island (called Akampene) in Lake Bunyonyi where she was abandoned to die.
Whereas the story isn’t new, it is the first time it is being told with such powerful artistic nuances involving riveting action, something that has come to be Loukman’s niche.
In his view, filmmakers in Uganda have for a long time boxed themselves artistically which he considers a hindrance to how far Uganda can go in storytelling.
“I try to make a cowboy film and people are lecturing me about how I can’t make that because I’m Ugandan. Hollywood will make an alien film and everyone will welcome it. They will make a Wakanda film about Africa and everyone will welcome it. But I dare make something that’s not Ugandan, and people will attack me for ‘doing other people’s cultures’,” Loukman,33, says.
“I think that’s probably why we are still where we are. We think that there’s a line you must not cross. And this limits you creatively. Imagine if you were told that if you are casting someone who is sick, you must get an actual sick person. Then you are not acting.”
