WAKALIWOOD - THE DREAM OF A SLUM

In the slums of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, dramatic scenes appear to unfold: people with heavy combat equipment attack each other in vicious-looking battles. Luckily, however, none of it is real – for we are in Wakaliwood.

Situated in the city’s Wakaliga slum, Wakaliwood (as the playful allusion to Hollywood suggests) is home to a developing film industry that enjoys an ever-increasing cult following, particularly among fans of the violent action genre. In fact, Wakaliwood’s standing among movie buffs is so considerable that its main director, Isaac Nabwana, is referred to as Uganda’s Quentin Tarantino.

It is a true phenomenon: action films shot in Wakaliga with the simplest possible means and unimaginably low budgets are being viewed by audiences around the world. Isaac Nabwana’s passion for movies has fundamentally changed the lives of hundreds of the slum’s inhabitants.

Isaac, in turn, had been deeply influenced by his brother’s love for Westerns, which he had frequently talked about throughout Isaac’s entire childhood.

When Isaac decided to start a venture of his own in 2005, he began by shooting and producing music videos.

In 2011, director Alan Hofmanis, an American expat, launched a crowdfunding campaign for Nabwana's film ‘Ebola’, which raised US $13,000. And this is really how it all began. The locals essentially got swept up by Isaac’s passionate interest in film-making. Being the first Ugandan artist to reach this level of success within the film industry, Isaac has become very famous in Kampala, as have all of his actors. People recognise them on the street and stop to express their admiration.

At first, Isaac took the initiative to recruit them as actors, even those with little or no experience. Later, there was a real boom and the locals started to show an interest by themselves: many began to study acting, as well as learning how to do martial arts.

Thanks to Wakaliwood, they can make plans, they put themselves forward and commit themselves to big projects, and they work very hard to make them happen.

The film industry has also made Wakaliga something of a tourist attraction. The shooting locations are always set up within the slum, just outside Isaac’s house. So naturally, passers-by always stop and watch what’s happening on the set.

What struck me most was how deeply Wakaliwood is rooted in the slum. Isaac and his family share a place with the entire troupe and crew, living and working together under one roof. The house Isaac built with his own hands is home to the Nabwana family, complete with in-laws, as well as their tenants; the rehearsal room is used for practicing scenes in the day, and filled with sleeping bags at night.

The studio also covers travel expenses for sellers going "upcountry," mostly west or east, but not north (northern Ugandans speak Swahili, and Nabwana's actors speak Luganda). Upcountry sellers usually travel for a week or so, offering their discs "man to man" and send back Nabwana's cut using Mobile Money, a phone-based digital-wallet service. Harriet, Isaac’s wife, keeps track of their inventory and burns more discs when needed.