Uganda Film Festival 2024 nominee list sparks controversy

The list of nominees for the Uganda Film Festival (UFF), released on May 10, 2024, has sparked considerable controversy after notable award-winning films such as "Karamoja by Eleanor Nabwiso and "Unheard" by Polly Kamukama were nowhere to be seen.

Film enthusiasts online have questioned the composition and judgement of the festival's jury, suggesting that their oversight of these films indicates potential unfairness.

"Really? Unheard won awards almost everywhere it was submitted, and I expected it to dominate the nominations here. Even Karamoja was not considered; how is this fair?" a dismayed Ugandan commented online.

In an interview with New Vision, Polly Kamukama explained that he did not submit his film to the festival as it would create an uncomfortable situation, given that the executive producer of the film is the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), which also organises the UFF. He felt that competing in the festival would represent a conflict of interest, a concern that had been previously addressed with UCC.

"UCC had already informed us that our films would not be eligible for UFF since UCC is the executive producer," Kamukama stated.

Rebecca Mukite, the Public Relations Officer of UCC, clarified that the commission deemed it unfair for well-funded films by the commission to compete against those by individual and independent Ugandan filmmakers. Therefore, the commission decided to exclude all its commissioned films from the festival to provide more opportunities for self-funded projects.

"Films funded through our Content Development Support Programme were excluded from the UFF because it would be unfair to other filmmakers who are self-funded. We recognised that our films would have an undue advantage, given their robust funding. We prefer that they participate in festivals abroad, where they often garner accolades," Mukite explained.