Logline

Synopsis

Thoughtful yet certainly not shy American film maker has plenty to look at in Uganda. She moves in the exciting hip-hop youth culture of the city, but also travels to the north to visit reception centres for child soldiers. Eyes wide open.

On the day when Kimi Takesue arrives in Kampala (Uganda), she is offered a job making wedding videos. Through a personal contact, she is invited to a grand high-society wedding and she records it all from start to finish. This gives a hint to her approach, which is open, precise and yet also spontaneous, and about her amiable determination.

It isn't always easy to film in major African cities with their suspicious slums, and Kampala is certainly not the easiest. Northern Uganda was an area that foreign travellers were better off avoiding, even long after the civil war, but Takesue wouldn't hear of suggestions she should drop her plan to go there. Together with Sam Okello, actor and civil rights activist and (and this year also Festival jury member), she travels to Hope North, a reception centre for former child soldiers.

Kampala may not be an accessible city, but it's certainly a lively city with many artistic activities. There's a special scene surrounding hip-hop, stand-up comedy and music, which has a fanatic local following. Takesue follows the performers till late at night in bars in dangerous districts.

Takesue’s documentary is one that reflects on the phenomenon of the documentary. It's about looking and looking back in a country that does not always want to be looked at.

D.K.

Wybrane nagrody i festiwale/Selected festivals and awards: 2010 - MFF Rotterdam/Rotterdam IFF, 2010 – FF Los Angeles/Los Angeles FF.