Nisha Kalema’s Makula has scooped 12 nominations including Best Feature Film and Best Director, earning the most nods in this year’s Uganda Film Festival awards.
This year’s Uganda Film Festival gala is scheduled for June 7.
Organized by Uganda Communication Commission (UCC), the Uganda Film Festival has over the years been a powerful catalyst for the growth and development of the local film industry.
As it is a norm, awards are handed out to outstanding films in both technical and acting fields. This year, about 307 films were submitted, though less than a quarter of these walked away with nominations.
About 50 films are spread across the 25 categories, and unlike in past years, when many filmmakers prioritized making films in English, a good number of films in the mix this year are in indigenous languages.
Three films, Eleanor Nabwiso’s Christmas Together, Nisha Kalema’s Makula, and Ibrahim Hammis Mayanja’s Omukululo, dominate the categories, such as acting, screenplay, and technical ones.
Makula follows an extensive yet secret ring of human and organ traffickers, while Omukululo, with ten nominations, is about everything that could go wrong when the truth is kept under the rug.
Other films in contention include Kevin Jones Nabukenya’s Soccer Heart and Jerry Ssesanga’s Lions of Buganda.
The festival that has been held since 2013 aims at promoting and showcasing Ugandan films to both the local and international audiences. This year’s festival theme is Local stories; global impact.
