Nigeria, Uganda Need To Do More For Film, Creative Industry – Actress Ndausi

Ugandan and Nollywood award-winning actress, shaper and TV presenter Princess Faridah Ndausi said governments’ engagement tin level up originative and filmic collaboration betwixt Nigeria and Uganda.
Ndausi, who spoke astatine the just-concluded Kaduna International Film Festival (KADIFF), noted that frankincense far, filmic collaborations and exchanges betwixt Nigeria and Uganda person been driven solely by filmmakers and festivals similar KADIFF.

Ugandan-Nigerian collaborations day backmost to 2006, erstwhile the histrion made her debut arsenic a ‘waka pass’ successful the movie “Roses In The Rain”, which was changeable successful Uganda and starred histrion Clarion Chukwura and Zach Orji.
She would spell connected to look successful galore different films, specified arsenic Before The Rain (2008) with Desmond Elliot, Tonto Dike, and Chika Ike, Yankee Boys (starring Emeka Ike and Jim Iyke), and Shedrach, Meshach, and Abednego (amongst others).
These days, the collaboration has grown from Ugandans simply featuring successful Nigerian films, oregon shooting films successful Uganda, to Ugan

dans featuring Nigerian actors, specified arsenic Ndausi’s films ‘See Through Me’ and ‘Shadow Face’ – starring Nigerian actors Clems Ohameze and Yvonne Jegede.

Similarly, collaborations betwixt the 2 countries spanned filmic exchanges with Nigerian actors visiting Uganda to big workshops successful films, promote and look successful Ugandan grant shows specified arsenic the Icon Awards, among others.
Nigerian movie festivals specified arsenic KADIFF achieved a milestone past twelvemonth by signing an MoU with the Pearl International Film Festival (PIFF) successful Uganda. Both platforms tin engender visibility and organisation of Nigerian films successful Uganda and vice versa.
However, for greater originative collaborations and co-productions betwixt some countries to occur, authorities intervention, not conscionable fiscal but otherwise, is requisite to make a much conducive ambiance for practice and the interrelations betwixt East and West African creatives, Ndausi said.
“If the Nigerian authorities tin enactment with Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), beryllium unneurotic to discuss, “what tin we bash for our countries?” It would effect successful thing beautiful. It shouldn’t conscionable beryllium the actors of our countries initiating the relations. Government should get involved,” she added.
Regarding what Uganda tin bring, Ndausi said, “good director, bully story/script writing, and adjacent bully producers.”
While commending Nigerian actors specified arsenic Emeka Ike, Segun Arinze, and directors Emma Ayalogu and Cele O. Cele for giving her a limb up successful Nollywood and the Nigerian movie manufacture for their extended enactment of the creatives successful the Ugandan movie industry, the histrion said that successful caller times, galore Nigerian films person been focused connected ‘commercialism’ alternatively than plot.

Uganda, connected the different hand, portion acknowledging the request for movie sales, prioritises ‘storyline’, message, and relativity successful filmmaking. This would explicate Uganda’s back-to-back sweeping of the awards astatine the past 2 editions of KADIFF, successful summation to signaling the largest fig of movie entries and screenings astatine the festival for 3 consecutive years.

“Nigerians spot movies arsenic concern – it is each astir putting retired movies, the precedence is not the plot/storyline. Ugandans guarantee that they ore connected a storyline. We are intent connected touching people’s hearts, astir creating thing memorable. Our stories are message-focused.

“I deliberation it is mean for each manufacture to commencement from scratch. It wasn’t casual for america (Uganda Film Industry), but it is getting amended and bigger than before. A manager and script/storywriter are precise important for a film. Without these two, you cannot marque a bully movie. And Uganda is blessed with both. Same arsenic movie producers, who are present consenting to put immense magnitude of wealth successful movie production, without needfully focusing connected the profits. That’s portion of the crushed the manufacture is getting better,” Ndausi said.

Uganda won six of the 16 grant categories astatine KADIFF 2025, successful peculiar areas of the movie manufacture wherever Nigeria isn’t rather truthful beardown – similar animation, experimental and documentary. What amended mode to heighten collaborations than here?