Imani | Drama
Directed by: Caroline Kamya
2010

About the film: In the course of just one day, we venture into the lives of three characters within the diverse landscape of contemporary Uganda. Imani provides a refreshing look at Uganda post Idi Amin, post LRA (Lords Resistance Army). A fresh new talent, director Caroline Kamya, gives us an intimate portrait of the lives of a child soldier, a maid and a hip hop dancer living in Uganda today. “The film takes place on just a normal day in the Ugandan capital Kampala and in the Gulu province. For three people however, this day is no ordinary one. Mary, who works in the house of a high-society lady, encounters some serious difficulties when she is forced to pay a bribe to save her sister from the clutches of the corrupt police force. Today is also the day that 12-year-old Olweny, who used to be a child soldier, leaves the rehabilitation center to return to his parent’s war-damaged village. And breakdancer Armstrong is putting together a dance performance due to take place in the evening, meaning he is forced to come to a complicated arrangement with a former childhood friend of his, who has since risen through the ranks to become the “Ghetto King”. Although the paths of the three protagonists do not cross, this one day demands an unusual amount of strength from every one of them. On a subliminal level however, the film is also about how living in the Uganda of today obliges you to develop this sort of strength just to survive everyday life there, much like growing a second skin. This is a film with an innovative use of multiple-narrative structure to explore serious social issues in an enlightening and entertaining manner. iMANi is a visual feast of stunning worlds revealing the little known busy city of Kampala and the formerly war torn region of Gulu providing a unique perspective from this region of Africa. The blend of popular contemporary local language acoustic and hiphop flavours, alongside traditional African beats carries the narratives, skillfully woven together to form the tapestry of both rural and urban life in Uganda today.

Screening Times @ Broughal Auditorium
1:15Pm Saturday, June 18 - One Screening Only!

About the Director: Caroline is an award-winning filmmaker who is considered one of the most prolific filmmakers making films in Uganda and abroad. With an MA in TV Documentary from Goldsmiths College (University of London). She worked in TV in London for several years working her way from runner to ADs. In 2004 she set up a company office in Kampala, Uganda. iVAD International is now the most innovative leading production house in Uganda. Caroline currently works as a director on “cross genre” films of fiction film and documentary, with recent projects collaborating with the Nordic countries. IMANI is her debut feature film IMANI that opened at the Berlinale International Film Festival 2010 and has since traveled the world gaining 8 international awards, so far