You have watched the above clip on the internet and thought or still think that it is a joke? Well, it is not. It is the official trailer for the first Ugandan action-packed movie named Who Killed Captain Alex shot from Wakaliwood over two years ago. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ugandan movie industry yet to take the world by storm.

Wakaliwood is home to Uganda’s (or safe to say East and Central Africa’s) finest action-packed movie stars courtesy of Ramon Film Productions. The still infant slum-based film industry has already gained attention from international media houses like example Business Insider, BBC, Mail & Guardian and AFP due to their extraordinary passion and talent exhibited in the movies shot using less than 200 US $.

Located at a Kampala suburb Wakaliga (hence the name Wakaliwood), the team at Ramon Film Productions (RFP) is on a mission to make world blockbuster movies filmed on African soil for the African market and by Africans. In short, they are to redeem the positive Ugandan image through motion pictures on a global movie market!

To date, more than five action-packed movies have been shot from Wakaliwood. Apart from Who Killed Captain Alex which was widely received and loved, other movies to have come out of Wakaliwood include Bukunja Tekunja Miti (horror movie), Tiger Mafia, The Return of Uncle Benon, Rescue Team, Tebaatusasula: EBOLA, The Crazy World, and the most anticipated Operation Kakongoliro which has been termed as the Expendables version of Uganda.

People’s never-ending love affair with Who Killed Captain Alex

Who Killed Captain Alex remains the most loved movie by Wakaliwood faithfuls. The synopsis of the movie which was inspired by events during Idi Amin’s regime, tells a story about a mafia leader’s brother who is captured in a shootout, prompting a revenge attack on the army camp. But when troop leader Captain Alex is killed during a raid, a violent war escalates between the two sides.

The movie was written, produced, shot and edited in one month in the year 2010. The whole plot and non stop battle between the commandos, helicopters, and the mafias were all done within two hours. After that, the movie was up for sale the following day! As of today, it has over 2,368,061 views to its name on YouTube (We hope you have watched the trailer at the beginning of this article)

The Curious case of Wakaliwood

Besides Who Killed Captain Alex, the way movies are shot in Wakaliwood is quite interesting. With a low budget and few resources, the team at RFP led by Isaac Nabwana uses local ingredients like tomato sauce, cow blood, condoms, toy guns, and banana fibers to depict blood and action-packed graphic scenes in the movies to reflect the explosions in motion. You can think this is not cool but they bring out the best-choreographed features in the movies when they are produced.

Even when they are just starting, the scripts of the movies are well written and filled with action. This is perhaps meant to capture promotions and a wide audience to gain a market for the young and ambitious movie industry located in East Africa with an aim of taking on the already existing giant movie industries like Hollywood (the western world) and Bollywood (India).

Whether they will stay around for long and gain a big following remains the question. The movie industry globally seems to be dominated by Hollywood which has consolidated its position as the best movie industry ever since it was founded by the Nestor company in October 1911. To this, Isaac Nabwana speaking to BBC recently stated that determination and focus is the only way they will make Wakaliwood the best movie industry in the world a few years to come even when they are based in a Ugandan slum.

The Impact of Wakaliwood

In Africa, the movie industry remains lagging behind on the global market.  Except for Nigeria’s Nollywood, the rest of the African states have not taken a keen interest in developing talents, arts, music, and drama. This has made it impossible for most talents to break through this ever-evolving and the competitive global village.

This has had a negative impact on many young people and consumers of television shows in Uganda and Africa in general. Many have adopted a lifestyle that is alien to them because of what they watch on TV. This has led to a dislike of anything which is locally worsened by the absence of alternative local shows.

Wakaliwood therefore might become a hub for new talents on the continent. The attention that the still infant movie industry is getting on the international scene, has already won the love and interest of the global entertainment squares even though it is yet to win the confidence of the intended African audience all over the continent.

According to the Wakaliwood blog, initially, Nabwana used to shoot the movies intended for his family and friends in Wakaliga. Five years later, the movies have become well-received across the slums in Uganda not forgetting the international praises the films shot in a  Ugandan slum are getting.

The problem that comes with Nabwana’s movies is copyright infringement. Most movies in Uganda are pirated thereby massively infringing on the intellectual property rights of such brilliant minds. According to the Wakaliwood blog, Nabwana does not even know how many copies of Who Killed Captain Alex have been sold.

Conclusively, Nabwami’s movies might be ignored by upper-class citizens in Uganda but the international applause that he is getting deserves mention. Five years from now, Wakaliwood might take over Africa’s entertainment corners if Nabwana’s online campaign to so as to buy world class equipment and studio yield positive response from well wishers. From Team This Is Uganda, this is another world-class positive story from Uganda!

You have any non-African friends, right? Ask them what they think of Uganda. The answers you may receive will be related to poverty, AIDS, Ebola, hunger, tribalism or animals. Their faces will turn sorrowful and sympathy might linger in their eyes. They may give an example of how they helped to “Save Gulu” by donating to the “Kony 2012” campaign or dreamed of adopting a “Ugandan orphan”.

Most likely the view of the continent is that it is not a continent at all, but one large country, where everyone speaks the same language, eats the same food, wears the same type of clothing, and creates the same type of art. Yes, in their eyes, “Africa” is a homogeneous place of simple people with simple activities.

Mainstream media and educational system constantly feed our minds with this type of negative information on Africa. As a consequence, the average white person has a very narrow-minded image of the continent, filled with lions, malnourished children, corrupt officials and rebels. We rarely see or hear anything different and therefore see such images as the truth. But, for someone who has never been to the continent, can they be blamed for this ignorance?

There are mainly two sorts of Africa that appear on the media, the human Africa riven with poverty and violence, and the Africa of wildlife documentaries where humans hardly appear. There are the occasional travel documentaries but even here there seems a lot of emphasis on poverty and the primitive nature of just about everything.

The effect of the above perceptions, is that it leaves the world thinking that Africa is a dark continent already lost in the jungles of primitivism and barbarism. It makes Africa at the center of stereo-typing and it also makes us to be branded as an inferior race in the world thereby even affecting our self-esteem.

Because of such, we wonder whether  we should be annoyed with non-African journalists who broadcast embarrassing images of poverty in Africa, or at the African governments who tolerate and often create such misery in the first place? Much criticism has been leveled at western media for negative coverage of Africa. They have been accused by some of ignorance and racism. In many cases, this criticism is justified.

But why do many Africans, feel so strongly about how Africa is portrayed in western media? After all, the average Brit or German doesn’t give two hoots how their country is covered in say, Nigerian or Kenyan media. Europeans are not emigrating to Africa in large numbers so they simply don’t need to care how Africans view them.

Perhaps we should ask you, Does the whole of Africa have this demographic problem? Why do you focus on the slums and not on the positive stories? Why search out the most miserable environments to film in and continue propagating negative stereotypes of Africa as a nest of poverty and problems?
But as proud Ugandans,  we also know news media in general (African included), tends to focus on the negative and not the positive. Bad news sells well. People feel better about their lives when they hear others have bigger problems than them. A European who’s unhappy he can’t get a mortgage, will, however unwittingly, likely see his life in brighter lights after watching footage of people with no electricity, no running water and little food to eat.

It’s important to challenge the negative images and the perceptions circulated by the media particularly; whether in films, books, news, and academic reports. It is vital to report, complain, blog about it. Challenge and object to it with whatever means you have. A pen or a keyboard is the most powerful tools. We are not just rebels or victims awaiting international aid or assistance for our children to be adopted by a wealthy celebrity who will parade them. We are – just like every human being – complex characters journeying on this planet who deserve dignity and respect.

Of course, there are many different and often positive stories to be told from Africa’s 54 diverse countries. But the continent currently has no microphone of its own on the global stage, no loudspeaker with which to tell its stories the way it wants them told. It has to wait in line hoping others lend it theirs from time to time. That won’t do.
Al Jazeera has succeeded in giving Arabs a voice on the global stage the same way BBC and CNN have succeeded in giving a voice to the British and Americans respectively. Where is Africa’s answer to Al Jazeera, BBC, and CNN?

More programs about Africa, made by Africans, is the voice that is missing in this world. We need programs which will not portray only wildlife, but the beautiful cultures of my country Uganda told by a Ugandan. We need new programs which will not call Africa a country but will appreciate that Africa has states like Uganda which are not at war but a pearl of hard-working people.
This is Uganda they never show you. This is Uganda of people with dignity and stories changing our society. This is Uganda the land gifted by nature and not conflict, poverty and diseases. This is Uganda of lovers, beautiful people, and not people dying of hunger. This is Uganda they never show you that we want to tell the world about and be the voice of the voiceless.

If we Ugandans do not stand up to tell our own stories and positive stories about Africa as a whole, then we will forever remain misunderstood, misinterpreted and not respected. We will not only be untrue to ourselves but putting the future of our country at risk as the late Bob Marley once said… “ Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery because none but ourselves can free our minds!”

Poetry must not be used for social change but CAN be used for social change.

Poetry is the best word arranged in the order to clearly define the poet’s heart based on inspiration, whether hidden or open. Poetry to some has been known as a means to preserve daily life experiences in society. It’s like a day-to-day diary of a writer though not so many people have the talent and passion to scribble down beautiful words in poetic ink.

Writers should have the liberty to express themselves in the best words possible to define their heart, but should welcome criticism of their work.

The lessons for the poets

Poets need to learn the tools of the trade before they go out to claim that they are poets.

Ugandan poets need to know that they are vital people in our society and help us reflect who we are as Ugandans besides helping us to creatively preserve unique societal experiences in living words frozen in ink that speaks.

As Ugandan poets, we need to market poetry to our neighboring countries to kill the monotony of having the same faces at every poetry event, and having  a few foreign faces every now and then.

The societies and platforms

There are local poets who have graced Uganda like Paul Kafero, Henry Barlow, Okot P’Bitek, and we who have come after feel that we are on the right track on carrying this torch.

We just need to support the poetry societies that groom writers such as the Lantern Meet of Poets, Femrite, Luminous Sorrels, Bonfire Uganda.

And the poetry performance platforms that give poets a monthly opportunity to showcase their spoken word like Open Mic Uganda, Poetry in Session, Kwivuga and Poetry Shrine.

Let’s support the Ugandan poetry platforms in whatever way possible now that its one of the avenues left to preserve our culture and make Ugandan history to be read by the future generations.