Omuzimu Gw'obulogo

What would it be like to be raised in the woods to take care of the shrines of the ancients? That is the question this one looks to answer...and many more. It takes you through the lives of some that are received and others rejected and what it takes for those that are received to become part of the 'fellowship' to serve the 'gods'. As always the presentations are full of humor and references only those who have grown up in the village will appreciate. John Bosco Kasirye, Bbaale Richard, Moses Magezi and Ntege Moses are some of the actors that feature in this one. 

Obusungu Bw'eddogo

The graphics work in this one are interesting. It is the story of about life in the village and the struggles that the community has to go through when almost every member has some kind of access to the mic arts. An Kidde Eastled and Mutebi Ronald Film, this presentation has a large cast of notable personalities and follows the lives of villagers as they engage in tit for tat fights against each other. There battles are also generational between kids, adults and also 'doctors' as we refer to them here. There is an interesting interplay of activities between the one generation that is more attended to the magic arts than another and the way in which the two generations 'transfer' power one to another. 

If you are not a believer you might be when you watch this. The writers have a skill in making you realize that you are watching fiction but leaving enough doubt about the daily activities that you go through. 

Circle

The experts do not seem to think much of this film. Oh but it is so much more given the current debate and back and forth between social media giants, a maor research group and several governments and their opposition counterparts (many of whom are crying foul). Emma Watson already put on a fantastic performance in Beauty and the Beast. And they managed to serve up two Emma in one!

Anyhow this time around Circle is dealing with heavy stuff...and not faltering. A social media group with quite an audience is having some discussions abut growth when one of the employees comes up with the brilliant (or not so) idea of using this influence to transform the democratic process. The circle is written in a world where we are connected frighteningly close to the point of imprisonment and surveillance. 

The film therefore attempts to deal with Quesitions that could arise in a connected world with the usual presentations about crime free settings. It almost feels a little like what happens in robocop when the machine can scan through its databases while looking at a crowd to discover and identify the perpetrators of crime and carry out instant arrests. 

The film felt like it was an indictment to social media and it's corresponding businesses and the relationship between Chiefs felt Iike a parallel between CEOs currently in the limelight and their female colleagues-in a moment thrust into the front row to deal with a sticky situation. 

Tom Hanks delivers as he always does. It's just a little uncomfortable seeing him as the bad guy! 

Omusajja agwana mukalegga.

This one feels much more like it would have flourished as a series. It has the largest cast I have seen in a single movie. The story is done well and has quite a number of twists and turns. It is effectively about a guy who gets the girl...but gets a ton more than what he bargains for. 

This is a film about duality. A presentation of two practitioners of traditional. The real (one guy who seems to deliver) and the fake (another who simply uses his networks and technology). it also has two women. One content while the other not. It has two men one rich and one seeking to be rich. It is done by Ramon Productions. They have made a name for themselves for being the go to group for Action Sequences. Some have even described the director of these as the Ugandan Quentin Tarantino. 

His films are headquartered in Wakaliga which has become known as Wakaliwood. This crew gave us Who Killed Captain Alex, they also gave us Ani Mulalu (who is really crazy) which went far beyond the usual NGO funded projects about saving the lives of children and awareness raising to an effective local action packed hit. Maybe the film was slightly negative in its portrayal of rich people as kid snatchers but these are the ideas that have filtered through the press. His most recent one talks of collaboration with Dolph Londgren. Another one that Is out is called Million  Dollar Child-about a wiz kid who has developed a tool that helps him control people. It is also described as the Uganda's version of the Expendables (operations kakongolilo).*

*Kakongolilo is a maize cob.