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Posted: Thursday August 11th, 2005 23:42 |
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Hajji Ashraf Semwogerere is somebody you could easily ignore, but those who know more about the local drama guru identify him as a multi-talented local actor who has also written 18 distinctive, thrilling and educative plays in his 20- year theatre career.
The Nigerians' dominance has worked as a challenge for Semwogerere to start producing films on the premise that if local musicians managed to kick foreign musicians off the local market, then Ugandan actors can also kick out foreign films. Recently, he released his first movie Feelings Struggle that debuted with shows in some popular theatres around Kampala. Semwogerere wrote, acted and directed the film that was shot by his Pearl Afric Pictures, a new film company. The film was nicknamed Ekina-Uganda, meaning a movie of Ugandan origin, similar to the Nigerian movies that are usually referred to as Eki-Nigeria. Semwogerere is in the process of copyrighting the name Ekina-Uganda as a catchphrase for his future films.
The movie story line is tagged on social issues and the star characters include Sheila Nvannungi, Patricko Mujuuka and Mariam Gitta among others. Bob Kimera who co-owns Pearl Afric Pictures produced Feelings Struggle and he is the man behind the camera. He studied filming in Kenya.
Semwogerere says that he writes his film and plays basing on the daily happenings in the community. He says that Feelings Struggle is based on a related true story that occurred in his village of Namulonge in Bombo sometime back.
"It was in my auntie's family. A schoolgirl dumped her newborn daughter at my auntie's place but the girl grew up and became a lawyer. The biological mother had forgotten about it, but after several years, she found out that the lawyer who represented her son in a case was her abandoned daughter and she had to apologise to get her back," Semwogerere narrated.
Three of Semwogerere's children starred in the movie and the father of five says that in future, he will turn his talented offsprings into good actors.
The Hajji who made a pilgrimage to the holy town of Mecca in 2000 is a staunch Muslim. He cannot accept offers from breweries to sponsor his projects, though they are some of the major sponsors in the entertainment field.
While Senegalese Ousmane Sembene is referred to as the father of African cinema with his 1962 production Borom Sarret, there is no doubt Semwogere is Ousmane's Ugandan contemporary. Feelings Struggle has been successful and it has attracted a big audience. Now, Semwogerere is eyeing bigger things. He is in the process of making two more movies. Next year, he is going to release two movies Feelings Struggle Part II and Dr. Kiyingi.
He was a good literature student at Kampala High School and he attributes his writing and narration capabilities to the subject. Ssemwogerere is out to portray a positive image about Uganda through film. He says that for several years, westerners have been making negative films about Uganda most of them, including the The Last King of Scotland being shot in Uganda on the subject of the dictatorship of Ex-president Idi Amin (RIP).
Unlike most of his African counterparts who act about only the negative things in Africa like witchcraft, wars and perpetuating the notion of Africa being primitive, Semwogerere says that his movies reflect the beauty of the Pearl of Africa. "You must be proud of your country to convince your buyer.
If I wanted a movie about the negative aspects of our country, I would start an NGO, record a movie from the Internally Displaced People's Camps and ask for donations," he said. The creative Hajji says that he first narrates his stories to some people to critique him before filming them.
While governments in some countires support their filmmakers, Semwogerere says he has not yet got any support from the central government but that notwithstanding he is leaving no stone unturned to promote his movies outside Uganda. Multichoice Uganda, Coca-cola, Select Garments and Smart Guys are helping him and he is optimistic about making it big.
He graduated at Makerere University with a diploma in Music Dance and Drama in 1998. He also did a course in playwriting and film directing at the Royal Court Theatre in London and has enjoyed favourable festival screenings at the same theatre where he goes every two years and presents short videos about Uganda and discusses the film matters of his homeland.
Semwogerere is an actor by nature and he started acting at primary level. He developed the passion for theatre while in O' Level at Wairaka College in Jinja but he got better after joining Kampala High School where he joined his friends Charles James Senkubuge, Aloysius Matovu Joy and Andrew Benon Kibuuka.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200508110935.html
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