Film Production in Uganda

The first Filming for a movie ever shot in Uganda was done in the 1960s for the famous MAGAMBO movie. It was filmed at Bwindi impenetrable forest, as its main location. The presence of the Gorillas and the thick equatorial forests of Bwindi brought the presence of a jungle in this movie.

KING SOLOMON’S MINES is another movie done in the 1960s with some scenes in Bwindi Impenetrable forest. A motion pictures film featuring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr..

THE RISE AND FALL OF IDI AMIN is another prominent movie filmed in 1981 in the neighbouring Kenya. Artists and talents like Jimmy Katumba, a Ugandan pop star, and others were moved from Uganda to Kenya to act in this movie.

MISSISSIPPI MASALA made in 1989 had several scenes shot in Uganda. It was produced by Mira Bair and featuring Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury and Roshan Seth. An Indian Family is expelled from Uganda after Idi Amin takes over power. The family finds refuge in Mississippi.

ITS NOT EASY was filmed in 1990 in Kampala, the capital city, and Kawolo a small village adjacent to the city. A renown Ugandan Director Foster Misanvu along with John Riburb of Film Trust Zimbabwe directed it.

BORN IN AFRICA was shot in1990 showing a real life story of a Ugandan pop star Philly Lutaaya living with HIV/AIDS. It featured artists like Virginia Storing, John Zaristsky.

THE LION KING, an animated Disney world movie made in 1994 had 433 of its artists sketch much of the landscapes in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park. In fact most names of the characters like Simba, Mofasa etc are from Uganda’s national language Swahili.

TAZAN filmed in 1996 had scenes filmed at two different locations of Entebbe Botanical Gardens and Bwindi impenetrable forest with the Gorillas. It brought out the plot of the story where a baby boy Tazan was raised up by the gorillas in the jungle.

In the past, the Uganda film industry was seriously affected by the country’s political instability. There are no clear records of films locally done from 1969 to 1989. This was the period when Uganda went through her worst political and economical setback in the hands of Idi Amin (1969-1979) and Milton Obote (1979-1985) as presidents.
Today the Uganda film industry is just catching up with films done on tape formats of BETACAM, UMATIC, S-VHS and DVCAM.
In 1990 ADOPTED TWINS was made by Foster Misanvu as director and George Ssengendo as producer. In 1996 LOST VICTORY was made with George Ssengendo and Mike Makamazibu as directors. Other films done include SHEILA, THROUGH THE STROM in 1997, DANGEROUS DECISION in 1997, FRIENDS IN NEED in 2002 and FULL OF ENERGY in 2004. Full of Energy was produced by -----, directed by and worn an ---- award.

Video Production in Uganda

Video production started way back in the 1960s on analog format when Uganda government introduced a state owned Television channel, showing in black and white colour and PAL Television system. Production of video for TV programmes began. Majority of the programmes produced were educational. In 1975, at the time when Idi Amin Dada was president, full colour Television was introduced. Producers at the time made programmes strictly for one television channel, Uganda Television UTV. Digital video was introduced in Uganda in the early 1990s.

Foreign Television producers, journalists, and talents have produced TV magazines in Uganda as well. In 2002 France 3 Television crew produced a programme “La poursuite du Nil” for the popular Faut pas rêver television programme, presented by the famous Laurent Bignolas and directed by William Garit.

In 2003, an American producer Kirk Durham produced a film “Uganda, the presidential tour”. It features President Yoweri Museveni taking Forrest Sawyer the programme host on a tour to great sites in the country. It was directed by Tim Powell. This video takes you through a great exploration of the country.