FILM HAS A SEAT AT THE TABLE OF THE NATIONAL CAKE

Last week, I read through the 2025/2026 Uganda national budget. Not something most filmmakers would usually do on a Sunday morning, but I’m glad I did (I can share a copy of the 60-page document to anyone who is interested)

For the first time in years, the creative arts (including FILM) were not just mentioned, NO, they were recognised as a key player in Uganda’s economic future. This deserves a thunderous handclap, I swear.
It wasn’t buried in footnotes either. It was clearly stated: “ICT and Creative Arts provide an important avenue for the country to develop high-tech exports and add new sources of growth and jobs.”
That line stayed with me. For years, so many of us have been telling stories, building sets on the infamous ‘ZERO BUDGET’, editing through the night, mentoring young talent, and showing up for screenings, without knowing if the country was truly watching. Now it feels like it finally is.

But what does this budget mean for US as Filmmakers?
1. Uganda Development Bank (UDB) has been given UGX 1 trillion, and for the first time, media, content production, and creative enterprises are eligible for funding. This isn’t theory, it’s already happening.
2. The Emyooga Programme (topped up with UGX 100 billion) is supporting trades like filmmaking, videography, editing, costume, makeup, and performance arts. I am talking about real jobs in real creative ecosystems.
3. Tourism got a serious investment boost, and that matters because so many films, documentaries, heritage stories, cultural pieces etc. are now tied to promoting Uganda’s identity.
4. Youth skilling and training hubs are being rolled out with film-relevant courses. That means new blood, trained and ready. What’s next for us after this?
We’ve always had the talent. We’ve always had the stories. What we needed was recognition, and now, a door has cracked open. Not wide yet, but enough to step through. This is the time to formalise, register, pitch, collaborate, and raise our standards. It’s the time to knock on the doors of UDB. To bring serious film proposals to life. To work together and build something bigger than any one project. If you’re a producer, director, cinematographer, screenwriter, editor, costume designer, or just someone who believes in the power of story, this is your moment too. The government has finally called film an industry. Let’s show them it truly is. Lastly, I hope the ‘mafias’ and self-appointed gatekeepers (those masqueraders who say that they represent the filmmakers) of the film industry don’t sit on the opportunities to suffocate those who deserve the support on merit. I pray that by June 2026, we shall be back here celebrating wins for the wider film industry rather than a few individuals who know each other.
In Hon. Matia Kasaija’s voice, “Money has finally come to the film industry and I hope we are ready”

#MakingUgFilmsFamous #NationalBudget2025