Emmanuel Ssejjengo
5 November 2009
Kampala — IN this year of wrongly organised (Miss Uganda), postponed (PAM Awards) or completely cancelled (The Ascot Goat races) events, it comes as a relief that even after a six months' delay, the annual Amakula Kampala International Film festival kicks off today at the National Theatre.
The sixth edition will also take place in 20 other video halls throughout the country. Over 200 films will be screened during the festival.
However, there are other changes that have been introduced this year.
For the first time, film lovers will have to pay for viewing the films during the festival. The fee is sh2,000 for a film, sh5,000 for all films shown in a day and sh25,000 to watch all films during the festival.
One of the highlights of the festival is the Celebration of Maisha (Best of 2007-2009) on Wednesday. The day will feature products of the Maisha film lab. These include The Trip by James Gayo "Kingo" (The New Vision cartoonist) and Ivan Kyambadde's Loserpool.
The focus on Uganda has also been widened and the festival will show 20 local films, including Biro by Ntare Mwine and Ashraf Ssemwogerere's Passion of the Ugandan Martyrs. The other prominent Ugandan film is Winnie Gamisha's The Painter that features Maurice Kirya.
From a Whisper, based on the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya, has already been acclaimed by winning the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Picture.
The awards are Africa's equivalent of the Oscars. The festival will also show several films outside Africa. This year, the festival has also introduced female VJs in its annual VJ slam competition.
A panel of judges will select this year's winner of the Golden Impala award for the best East African short film.
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