Uganda’s flagship cinema showcase, the Amakula International Film Festival, is back for its 12th annual edition scheduled for March 15-17, 2019 at the Uganda Museum in Kampala.
The curatorial team has put together an interactive programme package comprising of film screenings, panel discussions, talk back sessions, networking forums and an awards gala among other exiting activities.
This year’s festival boasts a diverse pool of films that is indeed reflective of the Amakula brand as the foremost platform through which most audiences in Uganda get to experience the best independent cinema from across the world.
A total of 35 films –19 shorts, seven documentaries and nine features – representing 17 nationalities make up the selection this year, with majority of those films coming from across the African continent.
The number of Ugandan films participating at Amakula has continued to increase over the years with this year’s section boasting a total of 19 local films which shall be screening – and ultimately competing – alongside some of the best independent films from across the world at the moment.
The Festival’s prestigious awards, the Impalas, will yet again pit some of the best films on show in four categories – Best Short, Best Documentary, Best Student Film and Best Feature – with the ultimate winners to be unveiled by an independent three-member panel of film experts.
This year is the enhanced Drive-in screenings to be hosted in the Museum Gardens starting 7pm till late on each festival day. The Drive-in, a unique cinema experience that enables moviegoers to watch films on gigantic screens from within the comfort of their cars with the help of wireless headsets, has become one of the main attractions at Amakula over the years.
Also, the programme this year has been divided into two sections – The Day Section (Midday-7pm) and Evening Section (7pm-Midnight) to be hosted in the Museum Exhibition Hall and Museum Gardens, respectively. The Day Section will be open to the public free of charge and will mainly feature short/documentary film screenings and panel discussions, while the Evening Section will strictly comprise of our famed Drive-in where some of the strongest feature films in selection will be screened. Audiences will need to pay a fee of Ugx 10,000 each to access the drive-in.
This year’s edition marks four years since Bayimba Foundation, a leading local arts charity, took over charge of the festival with the goal of repositioning the annual cinema showcase as a major platform for film and cultural development in Uganda.
