KAMPALA – Ugandan films have won two awards at the prestigious Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held in Lagos, Nigeria.
Joan Agaba won Best Lead Actress for her role in “Stain” while Asher Roshen’s production “Meat” won Best Short Film category in the awards held on Sunday, November 28, 2021.
The Uganda Communications Commission Ag. Executive Director Irene Kaggwa Sewankambo celebrated the double victory with an early morning tweet:
“Congratulations to [Joan and Asher] and the entire film fraternity of Uganda for the recognition received at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in Lagos, Nigeria, on 28th November 2021.”
Six Ugandan films had been nominated for the awards in various categories:
Stain – Best Film, Best Director, Best Achievement in Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Film in an African language, Best Actress in Leading Role
Tecora – Best Production Design, Best Make up, Best Costume Design
Meat – Best Short Film
A Thousand Fate – Best Animation
Noboth – Best Documentary
Monica – Best Actor in a Supporting Role
The Commission has over time supported the development of the audio-visual industry, whose potential to accentuate Uganda’s socio-economic transformation cannot be over-emphasised.
Key interventions have included imposing local content quotas on television, which has seen local content increase from 30.4% to 69.9% on Free to Air channels over the last couple of years.
To improve the quality of local content, the Commission has also engaged in capacity-building programmes, including training for over 1,000 content creators in the fields of acting, cinematography, editing, scriptwriting, sound, and lighting.
Some of the training has taken place within the framework of the Uganda Film Festival, which continues to provide a springboard for Ugandan filmmakers to hone their skills, showcase their talents, and gain international exposure.
Consequently, several Ugandan films have been nominated and excelled at several international festivals, the latest being “Stain” and “Meat” in Nigeria.
In response to industry demand for film project funding, the Commission recently went one step further with its latest initiative – the Content Development Support Programme. Through this programme, the Commission in September disbursed Shs 512 million in financial support to four promising film projects.
Collectively, these initiatives will boost the quality of Uganda’s audio-visual content, leading to increased competitiveness for our films on the local and international stage, as well as positioning Uganda as a key filming destination.
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