My name is Tayebwa Doreen. I’ve been acting since I was in primary three, when I was about nine years old. We had a drama club at school. I used to be the main actor in the plays, and we went in many competitions, from local levels in Kabale up to national level at the National Theater in Kampala. When I reached Primary Six the school administration forced me out of the drama club so that I could focus on studies. In my Senior Six, I got another chance to go back on stage, when I participated in the national speech competition in the National Theater. I think acting is in my blood. I’ve always loved to act and to sing. I got to know that I’m an actor when I used to watch movies and get inspired, and they told us that when you are watching something and you are inspired and you are moved, that is what you are.
The film that moved me the most is Bridal Mask, it’s about fighting against colonialism. It is set in one of those outside countries, I didn’t mind about what country it is set in, but the content moved me, and it made me want to be in the screen as well. Maybe one day I’ll tell the story of Bakiga fighting against colonizers. I however did not know how to make this dream become a reality.
Now that I finished school, and I’m in university studying a business degree, the future I saw for myself was getting a job somewhere and forgetting about the dream. When I saw adverts for the film school, I was thrilled. I told my father that I wanted to enroll, but he would not give me money for transport and registration, so I told him that it is a computer study program. When he suggested another place where they teach computer, I told him that this program teaches ‘deep computer’, so he allowed me to come, and I’m grateful for that.
Now that I’m here, and I’ve understood how to make films, I can’t watch the films made in Kabale. There is a vibrant industry, and some shows on TV West are made by people in Kabale. I used to enjoy watching them. We would sit as a family and all watch together in the evening, and we would talk about the things we had seen. Sometimes I would visit my friends and we would watch together. But now, when I watch those shows, I can only see the mistakes they are making, and I can only see how bad their acting is, how terrible the camerawork is, how poor the editing.
They are boring films. You find a scene with very shaky camera, or one which uses only one shot without even using any close ups. When I started complaining about these things, I failed to enjoy the films as I used to, and now I can’t enjoy hanging out with my family anymore. They don’t like watching with me because they think I’ll spoil the fun for them by pointing out the bad things only.
You see, people here like watching films from Kabale because they are in Rukiga. They can hear their own language on TV and the stories are relatable. Also they see actors who they know, like Mary Habomugisha, you can meet her in the market when you go to buy tomatoes. I think with what I’ve learned if I get the chance, I can produce very good stories that people in Kabale will like very much. Then we will not only see ourselves on screen and hear our language, but we’ll see ourselves in great stories that are well told. And maybe someone in outside countries will watch our films and be inspired, just as Bridal Mask inspired me.
You see, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. When I did literature in high school, the teacher used to praise me very much and I heard that Victoria Abigail had written her first novel while in university, so I thought I would also write mine by then. I used to tell my friends that I would write their love lives. But it requires a lot and I realized it is not an achievable dream. Now that I’ve learned how to make films, I can dream again, and I know that one day, those people in outside countries will see and read our stories.
Written by Tayebwa Doreen.