Winnie Gamisha

The Heart of Kampala, a 30-minute documentary film directed by Winnie Gamisha of Uganda and Andreas Frowein of Germany was the opening film and one of the five that received special commendation of the jury of the 2nd Amakula Kampala International Film Festival on September 25, 2005. It was singled out "For creatively using an ordinary location to capture in a single day, the life: the variety, aspirations, visions, challenges and fears of a people struggling to eke out a dignified living against all odds."

The Heart of Kampala is set in the public service vehicle (matatu) terminus in the heart of Kampala in one day from the crack of dawn to the wee hours of the night. Gamisha talks to Ogova Ondego about her love for film, family, women’s liberation and Africa.

What is The Heart of Kampala about?

It is a creative documentary shot in Luganda and English that captures life in the Kampala Taxi Park that hums with the rhythms of a typical African city in which hundreds of petty traders eke a living as thousands of passengers go about their economic activities using the 4000 public mini buses that ply the city routes from dawn till about 2 am when the pace slows down a little. Apart from drivers and conductors, many more people still find order and earn a living from this terminus that appears chaotic to a casual observer. People moving within and out of the city cross this point at least once in a day. And so they are potential customers for the goods and services provided in this park. The film follows these people, telling their stories and those of the park.

When was this film made and what was your role in it?

It was shot in July 2004 as a Ugandan/German production. Besides co-directing with Andreas Frowein, I also took care of interviews and helped to mobilise people with the help of the taxi authorities.

Taxi authorities—what kind of help?

People from the taxi park can get very rowdy, resistant and even unfriendly if they don’t know you. But because we had somebody they knew and respected from the Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA), it was easier and possible to bring drama out of a natural situation for this creative documentary.

Does that mean you did not manipulate anything?

We didn’t manipulate anything or ask any one to act in any particular way. We just shot what they did over a three-day period, starting at 5 am until around noon on the first day and from 9 am till late in the evening on the second day. On the third day we started around lunch time.

What was your budget, i.e. how much did you spend on this film?

We didn’t have any fixed budget. We just put in a lot of labour, working on post-production for a year in Frankfurt, Germany.

Is this screening at the Amakula Kampala its first ever public show?

This is the first public screening though we have entered it in other festivals around the world.

How has the film been received in Kampala and how do you feel about it?

When we shot it I didn’t think it would give people this type of pleasure or entertainment. When we were in the auditorium and saw people reacting and welcoming it the way they did, I was so happy. All the work and effort we put in it appeared to be paying off. I felt contented.

What other films have you made?

Before I left for Germany I had been working with Great Lakes Film Production and we had made commissioned features and documentaries. One such feature on water in arid central Uganda was called A Gift from Above. It is about rain water harvesting.

What was your role?

I was the scriptwriter and director. I also directed a docudrama about encouraging people to work and not wait for non-coming employment. Unshackled was about giving people ideas on how to come out of poverty. The Heart of Kampala is what Andreas Frowein, my husband and co-director, and I would call our own initiative. Andreas is an experienced filmmaker. He is much older and has done films all over the world.

What problems did you encounter as you went about your work?

The people, not used to filming gadgets, stopped working and just stared at us on the first day. We took our time and were kind and nice to them and they stopped looking at us. Some people would be concentrating on their work as we filmed but would stop upon being told by others they were being filmed. The situation would get out of hand and we would get angry but there was little we could do. The park had a lot of dust, the sun scorching hot and we still had a lot of heavy equipment to carry around. Some people were nasty to us while others demanded money. Did you give any one any money? We talked to the people calmly, explaining that we did not have any money to pay the thousands of people in the park. We gave some tokens of appreciation to some people, though. One of them was an orphan and we followed him around the park as he sold newspapers for a living. So how much did the film cost you? Excluding editing, labor, transport, equipment and postproduction cost, I’d estimate USh2 million for the shooting alone. Why did you make this documentary?To show another side of Africa because the western media always portray Africa as a place where people are fighting civil wars, suffering from HIV/AIDS or are at the mercy of natural catastrophes like floods. We don’t want to deny that these things happen but we want to say that there are Africans who also wake up in the morning and laugh when there is something to laugh about, they cry when there is something to cry for and that they also work hard to earn a living. The Heart of Kampala is the first in a series of films we want to make in order to help improve life in Africa.

How do you hope to promote this kind of films and in what format is The Heart of Kampala?

Through film festivals and direct sales. Our inspiration is to portray Africa positively. The Heart of Kampala was shot on DV and is available on DV, DVD, DVCPRO50 or DigiBeta in English or German version. It is subtitled in English or German depending on version.

Why do women not feature prominently in this film? Is it a reflection of the status of women in Uganda?

There are women working in the taxi park. But men outnumber them. We tried to film women but they were timid and ran away. Women are socialised to remain in the background. So remaining in the obscurity is very natural to them.

Why did you use a person with a British English accent to voice over the documentary instead of one with a locally-flavoured English?

We did so because we think the owner of the language speaks it best and we wanted to reach a wider audience. We could have used a Ugandan voice but we have very many dialects and accents in Africa. It is a fact that some East Africans have a problem when listening to a Nigerian who may be speaking English. That was why we thought someone with a British English accent would enhance communication.

Do you believe many more people will be more receptive to The Heart of Kampala just because it is voiced over in British English?

The film is not just for Ugandans though it is about Kampala.

What would you say about Nigerians whose films are consumed in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe though they have characters speaking in heavily accented Nigerian English?

The reason Nigerian movies are spreading in East Africa is because people are very hungry to see themselves on screen. I know some people watching these films don’t understand what is being said because of the Nigerian English.

Then perhaps it is not wholly true that only native speakers of English can enhance the viability of The Heart of Kampala. Perhaps what is more important is how one packages one’s film and not necessarily the issue of using the Queen’s English.

I think it is an issue of compromise. A Ugandan or an East African will watch a Nigerian movie just because East Africans are not as prolific in filmmaking as their Nigerian counterparts. All in all, I think it all boils down to being able to communicate. Language is all about passing on a message.

How did you get into film and how has it been for you so far?

I completed my Advanced Level studies in 1998 and started looking for a place where I could do film. In Uganda there was nowhere I could study film so I joined a journalism college after which I worked as a television journalist for a news agency called Media Plus. When Media Plus folded I sought employment from WBS Television because I wanted to continue with television news reporting. On the day I went to WBS, it happened that they were taking people for interviews. There was a German lady who wanted to co-operate with WBS to make films for them. But the management of WBS and she did not get on well and so she formed her own company, Great Lakes Film Production. She picked about 10 from the 80 interviewees and then she brought in a team from Germany to train us in film directing, lighting, sound, and editing. This was in 1998. After the basics I specialised in directing and scriptwriting in 2002.

What kind of person are you?

I am a determined woman who goes for what I want regardless of what is around me. I had always wanted to do film and though there was no film training at that time I never lost my focus. I did something while waiting for what I wanted to come and when it did I seized the opportunity. I wouldn’t want to do anything else other than film. Film exposes me to things I never would have seen or done. As a documentary filmmaker I understand so many things about the people I make films on.

Does that mean you have now made Germany your base?

That’s where I live and work but life is dynamic. I married my co-director. Now film is a family thing; sometimes something like that makes life easier. You agree we wake up at this time and you don’t have to wait for someone because you woke up with him and then you go to work together. Working with a person you live with is easier.

Are you planning to have children?

We want to have children but we must work out a plan of how we shall manage work and children at the same time. I want to raise children and work at the same time.

What do your former colleagues at Great Lakes Films say about you?

My colleagues are very supportive but human beings are very strange sometimes. One thing I have realised in Africa is that people don’t wish well for their friends. If somebody sees you going up they say, ‘How can this girl who was here with me leave me behind?’ They have what is called a PHD attitude: Pull Her/Him Down. But others are genuinely happy for you and they tell you, ‘Go girl. Do it girl. You can do it girl’. I think what matters is what you have inside of you. If you know what you want to do and you focus on it no matter what happens, you will achieve it.

What message do you want to pass on to fellow women?

I want to encourage women to stand up but not be against men. It is good to help liberate people but it should not be done through anatagonism of genders. I am for unity and cooperation. I hate it when women say if we have to be strong we have to fight against men. Why? We can be strong and men can be strong; we just compliment each other

What do you think about affirmative action in Uganda that states that 33 per cent of parliamentary seats and local authorities be reserved for women to level the political playing field?

I support this but I think some women take it too far. I think it should be taken in context. There are professional women here who can stand on their own. But then you go to the village where a woman depends on a husband and you tell her don’t listen to the man. Then the woman ends up losing her family without any alternative source of livelihood. I think it is OK to tell women not to let their men beat them but you should not separate families because of affirmative action. I very much want women to be liberated from the shackles of oppression. I want to use the medium of film to help liberate such women. I think it would be wrong for a woman to come from parliament and telling others not to respect theirs husbands.

Do you see any retrogressive practices that undermine women in Germany or Uganda?

I don’t see any in Germany; in fact women there are stronger than men. But in in Uganda, I see women suffering a lot in the rural setting.

What specific programme would help empower such sorrowful women?

Educating children would be the best thing. I think adult women should be educated on how to bring up their children. Some women in the village have been brainwashed to see the man as the centre of her life. All her happiness comes from the man. If the man is happy then she is happy; but then the man treats her like a fool. When he comes in the house the woman bows and is thankful for what the man has done yet the money she uses comes not from the man but the donkey work she performs in the field. He only comes in when it is harvest time, takes the harvest to the market, and puts all the money in his pocket. Then she has to come begging: ‘Daddy, please give us some money for buying paraffin for the lamp’.

Say something about the family in which you were born.

I am the eldest of four children: three girls and a boy. My mother is a primary school teacher and dad is an engineer. My mom is quite assertive. An educated woman is a pillar in society. She gave me a lot of inspiration to work and not have to depend on a man. My youngest sister has just joined Makerere University to study medicine while the other sister is studying at Makerere Business School. My brother is studying computers here in Kampala.

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