Amakula Kampala International Film Festival to run from October
29th until November 06th, 2010.

7TH AMAKULA KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - OCTOBER 29TH - NOVEMBER 06TH, 2010

We are pleased to announce that the seventh edition of the Amakula Kampala International Film Festival for 2010 will occur from October 29th to November 6th with the theme of Inevitable Transition. The festival will be presented at the National Theatre as well as twenty video halls located in the five districts of Kampala.

As each year the festival offers over 200 screenings of thought
provoking films from around the world in the sections African Panaroma, East African Focus, Contemporary World Cinema, Landmarks and Special Highlights. In addition the festival offers seminars and talks with international filmmakers, the 7th Congress on East African Cinema, the Golden Impala East African Short Film Competition, a closing night outdoor bon fire party, and performances combining film with live music, dance and storytelling which have become a unique feature of Amakula. Discussion programs, storytelling performances, opening and closing night events are free of charge, a festival pass allowing you to see all the films at the festival a mere Ush 25,000! The program will be available on the website by October 25. We hope to see you on our opening October
29th at the National Theatre!

Films will be presented from around the world but as usual most of the
program is devoted to covering the African continent through classic and contemporary cinema. The festival will also present the regular events that have become customary: The Congress on the East African Cinema, The VJ Slam, the Golden Impala Award for the best short film from Eastern Africa, the Symposium on the festival theme, the Bon Fire Celebration and a range of multi-disciplinary performances specially commissioned for the festival.

As always the Festival is seeking short films from throughout the Eastern African region to enter in the Golden Impala competition as well as longer films to be showcased in the festival. Please refer to the website www.amakula.com for more pertinent information on submissions.

The theme for this 7th Edition of the festival takes its name in part from one of the most important cultural legacies of post-Independence Uganda, the groundbreaking publication of the magazine Transition by Ugandan Rejat Neogy throughout the sixties, which has remained
an historic beacon as one of the most dynamic cultural platforms in Africa for dynamic creativity and uncompromising criticism.

The jailing of Neogy signalled the end of a great era in Kampala which is all but forgotten today though the magazine itself has been resurrected anew in the United States but the notion of "transition" itself in relationship to African culture and the cinema is a uniquely powerful tool in observing history and Ugandan society which has been so effected by a sequence of disruptive yet decisive changes. From the moment of Independence in 1962, post colonial Uganda can observe a succession of extraordinary transitions which have so altered the country and its understanding of itself that Ugandans still face many conundrums when it comes to grasping the complexities they face. Change is, in fact, unavoidable, and the cinema becomes an ideal tool in order to present this clear and present reality. Recent events throughout Africa indicate that radical changes are catching up with old regimes and these circumstances will possibly be bringing about the most important changes in independent Africa's history. The team of the Amakula Kampala International Film Festival is particularly excited about the prospects for this year's festival and hope to welcome you there for one of its most dynamic events yet.