I was beyond excited for the movie night at the Dilstories Film Studio, but the gloomy Saturday weather had other plans. As I woke up to a dark and rainy morning, my enthusiasm waned. By afternoon I was supposed to be at the studio for the Sisi Film Collective meeting and later, the movie night.
As I thought of cancelling plans, I remembered my responsibility to blog about the event. I had to be there! You must be wondering – couldn’t I just drop on my raincoat and hit the road? Well, the route that branches off to Kireka would be flooded. If you have never seen a river, don’t worry. Ugandan roads have a way of giving it to you firsthand. Traveling to Jinja to see the Nile? Don’t bother. Katogo Road near Banda on a rainy day is a tourist attraction
After a few false starts, I finally arrived at the studio, and what I saw took my breath away. Something I had never seen before; the exterior of the studio had been transformed into an outdoor theater. Sofas were arranged in a semi-circle around a giant screen, and mats with cushions spread in-between. Since we expected a chilly night, someone had gathered wood for a bonfire. Well, it was all designed so magnificently that it gave the feel of a movie night about to happen. I had never imagined us watching in an outdoor cinema, gazing at the stars as the movies unfolded their mysteries.
And yet, I couldn’t help the question; In this weather, were we going to survive an entire night outside? It was cold during the day, and it would be colder in the night. Anyway, I had a meeting to attend.
Here we are discussing about the Sisi Film Collective constitution and what needs to be added, but every two seconds my mind drifted to the disturbing cough of the generator. It had refused to power on. Was the movie night going to happen? I forgot to say that for the past two weeks Dilstories had no electricity. Why? The transformer broke. We made countless calls for UMEME to repair it, but all in vain. Maybe, like Sheebah the musician, we had to utilize our Twitter! Announce their incompetence in the open. Maybe that’s when they would show up.
So, it was either the generator or the generator. Nothing else! So practically when Dilman, the founder of the Collective, got out to some important call and excused himself from the meeting, I followed suit, though with a different reason. I had to find out about this generator. It was now dark. The only visible lights were from Misindye but all over here it was dark. No stars or moon. Just a gloomy, boring night.
Maybe there would be no movie night and I had to just go home? Well, I hate to say but now the mantra in my head was for the generator not to light so that I could go to some bar and play billiards. Unfortunately, and the same time fortunately, it worked, and the curtains parted to give a grand opening to the movie night.
Getting comfy in one of the couches, with a blanket to keep me warm, I felt the excitement that had dissipated in the morning. During the first movie night we had, a participant hosted us at her home. We watched a few films but truly I never understood anything aside from the fact that we were watching black and white films that required subtitles. I recall laughing because my fellow film students were laughing, just to blend in.
The difference between the two movie nights is that a group of non-film students joined us for the second one. So basically, the film had to be a little decipherable. Our first was Dancing in The Rain (1952). Trust me this time I understood everything right to the end of the film. One thing that caught my attention was the actual depiction of life on a film set. Sound is a prominent part in film, it is the ambiance of a film. So, in one scene, this particular actress is told countless times to speak to the microphone, but she does not. Till the microphone is moved to different places to get her sound but still she moves a lot making the microphone receive her sound in bits. The Director gets frustrated in each take. This was a real-life experience for me as well. Those are the times when directing becomes a pain in the neck.
By the time Star Wars (1977) began, the bonfire was lit sending warmth our way. The fire added a perfect lighting to the place and so me and my fellow photographer immediately picked up our cameras and took pictures of the beautiful scenery.
I wanted to get people’s opinions, so I asked people about their experience of the night. Even though the interviewer was tipsy, the camera guy tipsy, and everyone was tipsy. Ha! Imagine the questions and answers that unfolded! Having liquor on a movie night hits different. The answers are a blog for another day.
When the midnight hour clocked, the audience demanded for a local film, and so we showed one of our own, a Dilstories production, The Felista’s Fable (2013). Dilman, the director and writer, however vanished into thin air because he could not watch his own film. Like why? Mbu, he had watched it a thousand times before already.
It was a ride through the Ugandan setting, a comedy about a woman with a very awful smell. When the credits rolled, the movie night ended. Next thing I saw was a dance floor, music blasting and minutes later, before I could join in, I blacked out.