UCC, together with MultiChoice Uganda, launched the 8th Uganda Film Festival at the grand opening event at Acacia Mall in Kisementi.
MultiChoice Uganda in partnership with the Uganda Communications Commission launched the 8th edition of its five-day film festival with an event at the Acacia Mall in Kisementi.
The Uganda Film Festival (UFF) is intended to bolster and develop the film industry in Uganda.
The Uganda Film Festival, which was launched in 2013, is a platform to air and showcase Ugandan content in the film industry, recognize notable players in the film industry, raise money, train and promote the industry, in addition to getting the word out locally and globally.
Among other activities, the festival’s week-long programme includes film screenings, film training for scriptwriters, exhibitions, workshops and will culminate with an Awards Gala on Friday, where outstanding short films and documentaries will be honored.
Susan Wegoye, the Director of Legal Affairs, Uganda Communications Commission, said this year’s festival will take place from 29th March to 2nd April under the theme: “Rebuilding a Resilient Creative Industry through the Pandemic.”
During his remarks, Colin Asiimwe, the head of MultiChoice’s marketing division, revealed that MultiChoice Uganda would be a platinum sponsor of the festival and offer participants an array of prizes in exchange for their participation.
“MultiChoice Uganda is vested in forging partnerships that facilitate the growth, development, marketing and showcasing of local content and the film industry at large. As part of our sponsorship, we shall enrol the scriptwriters that emerge from this year’s Uganda Film Festival into the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF), a Corporate Social Investment initiative that we launched to train and certify passionate film producers, writers, editors, production managers and actors onto a Masterclass on scriptwriting, which will be coming in the next few months.”
In addition, MultiChoice Uganda will sponsor two awards this year in the Best Director and Best Cinematography categories in an effort to help support local content being produced in Uganda.
These awards will come with a cash prize of Shs 10M and a mentorship program with M-Net Studios in South Africa.
Further, Asiimwe revealed that all the movies that win any of the awards will have the option to air on Pearl Magic for a certain period, with the permission of the content owner. Additionally, we will put together a prize pack of all the awards that night.
Best Student Film, Best Animation, Best Short Film, Best Documentary, Best Script (Screenplay), Best TV Drama, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Design, Best Feature Film are among the many categories for this year’s festival.
