Are you going to phase that out with your new films or is it going to remain a key part of Wakaliwood?Īlan: It’ll always be there as an option. Let’s talk about the video jockey aspect as it’s a key part of all your films so far. Perfect the subtitles and figure out what we were going to do with the V.Js (video jockeys). They want to interview everyone, see where we do everything and it can disrupt production, but it’s a blessing.Īfter Captain Alex, we really had to tidy up our films. They were here every week! We have CNN here right now and they’re here for a week and whenever they come, we have to shut down because they need shots and we end up working for them to an extent. Were you surprised at the reaction that got online and how much press it generated?Īlan: With Captain Alex, we had journalists coming for a year and a half afterwards. Obviously, Who Killed Captain Alex? is the film that Wakaliwood is best known for. They know and they’re all part of the production most of the time! However, with some things, like when we’re shooting cannibals, we try to hide it as the kids get scared and the parents would yell at us for having our cannibals walk around in their costumes! When you’re shooting battle scenes, do you have to warn the locals to prevent panic?Īlan: Oh no, it’s quite the opposite now. That’s why we do everything here, because if you’re near another village and you start yelling “Attack!”, people will flip the fuck out!
We could be done for impersonating an officer, even though we have obviously fake guns. Isaac is very smart and wise on how he can make this area look different film-to-film, but we could get arrested as the commando uniforms we use are illegal. Isaac: It’s a prop like any other, but we built the chopper after we asked the government if we could use one and they said “No!” So we thought we’d build our own and use it in our movies!Īlan: It’s not so much dealing with permits, but the police will shut you down! So we shoot everything that’s possible on this quarter-acre.
Where do you get the materials from? Does the military have something to say about it? Do you have to get permits? So tell me about building a helicopter in the middle of your homes. It should be noted that when I spoke to Isaac and Alan via Skype there were working on several new projects and were happy to show me (by rotating their laptop) the studio’s latest production creation – a full-size replica of a Huey H21 that was sat in the middle of the quarter acre that represents Wakaliwood’s studios.Īs such, I thought that was a good place to start the conversation! Isaac, who has been dubbed ‘Uganda’s Quentin Tarantino’ never grew up watching movies but became fascinated with stories when his brother would recount the plots of films he’d seen in the city.Īlan, on the other hand, was born and raised in New York and was such a fan of Wakaliwood’s output, that he packed up his old life and moved to Uganda to help out on their films! The film-makers of Wakaliwood have been the subject of numerous press articles since the trailer for Who Killed Captain Alex?went viral on the internet with the likes of The BBC, The Guardian and numerous other outlets covering their story… and what a story!
Ahead of our event, Wakaliwood Forever, we spoke to two of the Ugandan studio’s creative minds – director Isaac Nabwana and producer Alan Hofmanis – to talk about the popularity of their action films, how the studio is expanding and what new projects they’re currently working on.