Uganda Film Festival Celebrates Growth Amidst Pandemic Challenges

The 11th edition exhibited a lot of growth from UCC as organisers, there were changes in the way they curated the award show and cinema screenings. Unlike the past years where films screened at unfavourable times of the day, these screened at 7pm, the peak time of many cinemas.

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) supported the Uganda Film Festival (UFF), which had its finale gala.

The gala, which is also an award night, was the climax of three weeks of film exhibitions, masterclasses and general industry repositioning.

Of course, a lot has happened in the 12 years UCC has been organising this festival. MultiChoice has become a cornerstone partner of the industry, commissioning more than 600 episodes of TV dramas every year as well as nominating some Ugandan films for their Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards. Also, in the past 12 years, the number of filmmakers has increased; some of these are straight out of the box, that is how Uganda has managed to have two projects on Netflix.

But above all the things that have happened in these years, nothing beats Covid-19. The pandemic had a closed lifestyle for nearly two years, and part of the things that were hit the most was the cinema industry.

It has always been an infant industry in Uganda; however, the culture has been fast growing. When the pandemic set in, it took the industry a few steps back. In fact, it is because of the pandemic that UFF is 12 years old with only 11 editions. This year’s edition exhibited a lot of growth from UCC as organisers, there were changes in the way they curated the award show and cinema screenings. Unlike the past years where films screened at unfavourable times of the day, these screened at 7pm, the peak time of many cinemas, and a less bloated screening schedule was available as well.

For the past three weeks, local films, especially those nominated in the different categories of the festival awards, have been showing at the cinema.