The deputy Speaker of Parliament of Uganda Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa has urged the film makers including actors, actresses and producers among others to be united and organized.
Tayebwa while officiating the 10th edition of the Uganda Film Festival (UFF) said it is only when people get organized is when they can easily garner support and mostly from Government.
“Government is ready to come in to offer more support the film industry which has tremendously grown over the years but it only effective when you film makers unite and come together as you all know it’s very easy to render support to organized groups.”
In relation to the topic, Tayebwa cited an example of Uganda Musicians Association (UMA) under the stewardship of Eddy Kenzo and Sheebah Karungi as President and Vice President respectively who he said are now organized are with no doubt, going to get even more government support.
Hon. Tayebwa acknowledged the role Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), the organizers of the UFF and its partners MultiChoice Uganda and Airtel Uganda among others for steering the development of the Film industry in Uganda to where it is now and he believes it will even get better than it is today.
“UCC with its partners MultiChoice and Airtel Uganda, have through UFF, popularized Uganda’s local content to the extent that even when you go deep down in villages, the locals are very well versed with Ugandan local movies. And to make it even better, people can now stream these movies on different online platforms and right at the comfort of their offices, sitting rooms due to the modern technology and at affordable rates.”
Tayebwa further urged UCC, MCU and Airtel to continue with the great job in the industry and furthermore, engage with different players to cut down the costs to access a movie so as to make streaming a better experience for everyone at very friendly costs.
“Gone are days when Latino soap operas would be at the center of our screens, keeping our ladies glued to TV but we now all love our Ugandan super quality local movies told in our own local stories and languages which wasn’t a thing back in the days. Some of us would line up to access John Rambo at the local video halls in the village.”
Airtel Uganda – A Reason To Imagine,on the other hand, which happens to be one of the big sponsors of the UFF, pledged more support to Uganda’s Film industry even beyond UFF.
To starters, UFF is an annual celebration of Uganda’s best talent in the film Industry where leading actors, actresses, film directors, scriptwriters and other creatives are recognized for their outstanding role in the development of the film entertainment industry.
Airtel Uganda has continued to support platforms that support the growth of talent in music, sports and innovation in Uganda.
At the festival running under the theme: Celebrating 10 years of harnessing the potential of the Creative Industry, Amit Kapur, the Chief Commercial Officer at Airtel Uganda said, “Our promise to support Uganda’s Creative Industry is in line our Sustainability agenda of Transforming Lives. Film is one of those ways through which young people are given A Reason to Imagine their dreams, possibilities, solutions to change their lives. Airtel Uganda will continue to provide support to realize such dreams”
Kapur added, “Airtel created the Airtel TV which is a channel accessible on Smartphones with a wide spectrum of local TV content. It is also a platform to showcase Ugandan talent to the world. These solutions among others enable our local artists to tap into Airtel as an enabler for growth on our countrywide 100% 4G enabled network and reach more audiences. We will continue to offer affordable Data plans and fibre solutions, without differentiation, to support the legal distribution of Ugandan films to all audiences.”
