Kampala — THE exodus of American and European film makers to Africa to shoot movies has been explained by one of Africa's celebrated top movie directors as Africa being the source for film-making.

Gadalla Gubara, an 88-year-old Sudanese film director from Omdruman near Khartoum, said Africa had a lot of potential for film stories, though most countries had not prioritised the industry.

He was in the country for the Fifth Amakula Kampala International Film festival that ended last Sunday.

"Africa has a lot of potential for film-making.

It is why you see many American and European film-makers now turning their eyes on Africa to do films," said Gadalla.

Gadalla, a retired lieutenant in the Sudanese army, prophesied a bright future for film-making in Uganda.

He joined the film industry after obtaining a degree in film production, directing and covered photography from the University of California.

Gadalla and his daughter Sarah have directed over 40 films in Sudan, Africa, Europe and America.

Six of their films were screened at the Amakula Film festival. One of them, Tafoog, is about two cousins who are in love, but cannot marry because it is a taboo in Sudan for relatives to marry. However, the two go to a traditional doctor who gives them charms to evade the taboo.

They eventually marry but Tafoog dies before the end of the film as the taboo was haunting them.