My name is Lubangakene Gard Willis, and I’m a sociologist by profession. I live in Gulu. I’ve loved film since I was a child, like almost everyone who gets into filmmaking, and my favorite films were those of John Rambo. Up to now, Sylvester Stallone is my role model. When I read his biography, I realized he came from a humble background, he was not very rich, but he made it in life. I relate to him, as my family is not rich. He was also a mouthpiece of US propaganda, and I want to be like him and spread good propaganda about Northern Uganda, to change the stereotypes of what people think about us. In 2017 we attended a training and after that training we created our own group called Film256 Gulu. This was my first step into filmmaking. We pooled our resources, we put money into productions, and we have so far produced a couple of films that have put us on the film map of Northern Uganda.
But now that I’ve attended this training, I realize we were doing everything wrong. We did not pay attention to the quality of the production. I watched again some of the films we made, and I could see glaring mistakes, like the shadow of the camera person, in the shots. It’s horrible. I did not know how we ever thought we were making films yet we were just playing around. The problem is that the previous trainings we attended were not in-depth. They would at most last a week, sometimes we would only be offered a day-long training. Now I’ve attended this one and I can say that my professional journey into film has started. Before, I was just an amateur. This is an important change in my life because it has given me confidence. It’s not just an important change. It’s a very big change. My life took a full 180degree turn and I’m now on the right path to a career in film.
Shortly after the training, I created my own production company. I was initially afraid of doing it alone, but I’ve learned enough that I gained confidence to do things on my own. I call the company Wills Media. Of course I’m not leaving the group, Film256, nor did I start the company in bad faith. It’s just that some things will I will still do with the group, while other things I will be doing on my own. With the group, once you get money, then you have to share it amongst many people, and so the returns are low. With my company, I can control what I earn.
And also, what I’ve learned from the training is going to benefit the whole group. We are in production of a new film, and the group entrusted me to be the director of this film, since they saw that I have learned professional tips and taken my skills to another level.
Written by Lubangakene Gard Willis
He was a participant in the 2019 Gulu Mobile Film Training.