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The expulsion of Asians from Uganda by President Idi Amin in 1971 almost strangled the movie-going culture in the Pearl of Africa were it not for entrepreneurs who intervened with life-support gadgets in the name of mobile outdoor projectors and screens. Ogova Ondego reports.

One of the most interesting things to have happened on the Ugandan audiovisual scene in the recent past is the emergence of video halls popularly known in the widely spoken Luganda as bibanda (shacks).

Unlike conventional movie houses that struggle to attract patrons, bibanda easily take in an estimated 120,000 viewers each day at the price of USh100 (US$0.07) per head. Viewers sit on wooden benches inside dark structures made of reeds, wood, cardboard and stone watching high action, violent films, complete with mind-boggling stunts, coming from video cassette recorders and Video Cassette Players on television monitors in front of them. Often situated in densely-populated neighbourhoods, Kampala has 600 of Uganda’s estimated 2000 video halls that are quickly becoming an industry offering jobs, and affordable and convenient entertainment to the people of Uganda who otherwise cannot afford to watch films in Kampala’s two commercial cinemas whose tickets cost US$7 per head.

Veejays

Since most videos shown are in English and viewers lack a good grasp of the language, they must be translated or voiced over live in Luganda by video jockeys popularly known as VeeJays or VJs who also claim copyright to their works and are paid by video hall owners. At least 200 people enter a video hall each day, according to Benon Tibanyendera, general secretary of the Union of Video Owners & Operators Association. Veejays are crucial and no hall can exist without them.

Among the most popular veejays are Jingo and Joe Nakibinge.

Though an elected councilor, Prince Nakibinge says he enjoys his work as a VJ. The VJs have created a new discipline that compliments video screening business. Their ‘translation’ may not necessarily be accurate, but they hold sway on video operators and viewers who hang on their every word.

Expulsion of Asians

The video hall business came up when enterprising people started copying Indians who had operated and owned cinemas before being expelled from Uganda in 1971 by President Idi Amin on alleged economic crimes against the East African nation. This act almost killed the movie-going culture in Uganda were it not for the entrepreneurs who used mobile outdoor projectors and screens all over Uganda. When demand for the traveling film shows grew, people created permanent structures that made even more money to flow into their pockets.

Union of Video Owners & Operators Association

Twenty years after their emergence in 1982, the government of Uganda tried to close down these structures arguing they are dens of criminals (robbers, drug addicts), and that they distract children from studies besides being unsafe as they could fall on people. Their livelihood thus threatened, investors in the video halls business came together and formed the UVOOA to lobby the government which listened to them and asked them to regulate themselves. Represented at grassroots level, UVOOA has the power to enter and inspect any video library and screening hall, Tibanyendera says, admitting that many of these halls screen pirate videos as the Uganda copyright law of 1968 is hardly ever enforced.

Reforms

Tanzanian filmmaker Mwangaza Kang’anga in front of a Kampala video hall

Players in the video sector—Ministry of Information, Broadcasting Council, Kampala City Council, police and other stake holders—are in a process of establishing structures to formalise the video hall sector that Tibanyendera says has just started paying statutory taxes to the exchequer. Since 2003, his association has been registering video halls all over the country to ease future reform implementation.

VJ Slam

A VJ Slam was organized during 2nd Amakula Kampala International Film Festival in September 2005 for video translators to demonstrate their versatility at film translation. Among those who competed in translating various genres of Hollywood films including Mr Incredible in Luganda at Uganda National Theatre were Prince Joe Nakibinge, Timothy Jingo, Moses Kisule, Jingo, Kiwa, Shokhau and Ssali.

Interview with VJ Prince Joe Nakibinge

Please introduce yourself

I am Prince Joe Nakibinge who also doubles up as a councillor representing Makindye Ward in Kampala city. Born in 1975, I am 15th of 25 children of my father. Dad had 25 children but many of my siblings died during liberation war of 1981 – 87. I have five brothers and two sisters from my own mother. Dad was brother to Sir Edward Mutesa, the first President of Uganda. I am a prince. My dad should have been a priest but he changed his mind to study medicine. Having studied Marxism and politics, he was one of the guys who tried to assassinate Milton Obote in 1968. He was arrested and sentenced to 64 years in prison but he served only four years and went into war of liberation with President Yoweri Museveni.

So your father is well connected…

He is now very poor. I do Video Jockeying because I couldn’t get any work though from a royal family. I believe in being a self-made man, motivating others.

How did you become a VJ?

Having begun watching films in 1987, I dropped out of Form Two (9th Grade) in 1992 to work with a VJ who lacked proficiency in English. I now own a video library.

What challenges do you face as a VJ?

This job is not taken seriously and VJs are ignored and despised. Having sprung up in the slums of Kampala in 1989, people take VJs to be illiterate, never-do-well, idlers. We do an extremely important job as video translators as many people don’t understand English films. Before we started translating films, people appreciated kung fu and action films only. Dramas and thrillers were not appreciated as viewers could not follow the dialogue in English. But not any more.

Oh, then you must be enjoying yourself thoroughly as a VJ

Not really. There’s no money in translation while police harass people in video halls with arbitrary arrest suspecting video halls to be dens for criminals and other idlers. Granted, our video halls are ramshackle, temporary structures.

So what should be done to address these shortcomings?

We need more education, sensitisation, and awareness on how to best execute our translation duties that are crucial in promoting the film culture in Uganda. Many VJs/translators are non-literate. They don’t translate but imitate. Some don’t understand Hindi but claim to translate Bollywood films and people enjoy their work. We must know more languages: Hindi, Kiswahili, English, etc.

What are your favourite films?

Drama, love thrillers, and investigative stories. But that does not mean I cannot translate films in other genres.

How do you prepare to translate?

I read film sleeves from libraries to see if they’ll be interesting. I also preview the films, studying those with subtitles, and thinking of how to render them in Luganda.

How do you choose culturally-appropriate films, i.e. those without violence, vulgarity, or profanity?

It depends on the area where we do the work. VJs operate mainly in urban areas, mostly in Kampala. We are more than 100 VJs in Kampala; some don’t understand translation, or films but still claim to translate. Sci-fi requires formal education and not just ability to understand English. You must be conversant in disciplines like geography, biology, agriculture, and physics. You have to understand court proceedings and the functions of prosecutor, jury, judge, advocate, witness, etc, to avoid misleading viewers. By merely looking at features of a film, I know if it is set in Asia, Texas, or Nigeria.

Are there any female VJs?

I haven’t seen one but it certainly would be OK to have them. I think their absence is largely due to negative perceptions of the work of video halls and VJs. For example, as I campaigned for the Makindye county’s seat, people demanded to know why they should elect me, a VJ, who misleads their children and workers, diverting them from school and work to the video halls.

Is it true that video halls pose a threat to school children and workers in Kampala; that these people prefer to while away the time in video halls, hanging on your every word, instead of attending classes or working as I have heard?

If sent away from school for lack of school fees, children don’t go home but come straight to video halls. Many people here are unemployed while others live on less than USh1000. They spend Sh200 on films and the rest on food and other necessities.

What future do video halls have?

UVOOA is expected to help uplift the standards of video halls to that of cinema halls. VJs and translators, too, are expected to be well equipped for their work. We shouldn’t mislead people by misinterpreting films. The future of VJs is bright. VJs are paid per day, and per film. While some charge USh10000 per film, others get USh2000 depending on how one negotiates. Uganda has no local films and so we concentrate on Hollywood and Bollywood fare.

Anything else you would like to say in conclusion?

I returned to school and completed Advanced Level studies. I now would like to join Nakawa University to study translation but I don’t have money for fees. As an elected councilor, I represent more than 10000 people in my Ward. My term ends in 2005. I am still strong but lots of challenges abound in politics. I am not sure if I shall defend my seat during the next general elections. I wanted to be a politician but politics is a marriage of convenience, not love. I am a Democratic Party member but Uganda is not democratic. Without money you can’t enjoy any privileges. You need a car for people not to ignore you. You must provide sugar, salt and soap to people to be elected. I will now concentrate on my film translation work.

But why would you do this while you are still quite young as far as politics go?