By Travis Johnson
Forget Bollywood and Nollywood and get ready to wrap your head around Wakaliwood, the nascent, DIY film industry that’s sprung up in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. It’s basically one crew of really committed, dirt-poor dudes, under the guidance of chief writer/director/producer Nabwana Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey, who specialise in low budget, high body count, ultra-violent action movies. They’ve made dozens of these things, all with budgets of $200 or less, all produced with homemade and salvaged equipment and props.
Their latest opus, Bad Black, is having its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on Sunday, September 25. It’s about… well, here’s the synopsis:
A mild-mannered doctor is trained in the art of ass-kicking commando vengeance by a no-nonsense ghetto kid named Wesley Snipes (!). This is only one of the many delirious action-packed stories that converge in this exuberant DIY extravaganza from the home of “da best of da best movies”: WAKALIWOOD, UGANDA!!!
Seriously, check out the trailer – it’s eight and a half minutes long! When you look past the paltry production values and the insane plotting, what really comes across is the sheer exuberance and joy of creation. The voice over is flat-out amazing; apparently the authentic viewing experience is seeing one of these things in a hall while a live VJ narrates and comments on the action for the audience. We’ve added that to our bucket list.
Currently there’s no word of any kind of Australian release but clearly someone needs to make that happen. The world needs Wakaliwood, even if it’s only to shut up would-be filmmakers complaining about being unable to get their projects funded.
