Let’s talk about Opportunities Are Here.

Ok, let’s talk about Opportunities Are Here.

So, I was invited for the premiere of You May Kiss the Bride Goodbye, but for some reason, by the time I reached the venue, my name wasn’t on any list. But I got in, and I don’t hold grudges.

Saturday was joyous, the European Union and partners know how to throw a party, and Fenon, straight outta UFF, they pulled off yet another film event.

But my story with this film started earlier, before the premiere. I was on a call with a person who had worked on the film, and in the mix, he received another call. He later tells me they were asking for his full name and spelling, to credit him on the film.

That’s the first time it hits me that the film was still at the editing stage, even when it was supposed to premiere at 7 pm, later that day.

As person who watches Ugandan films both for journalism purposes and fun, we have seen worse, we have films that were being edited as they were showing, they cut half way and started making speeches, not because the speeches were important but to buy time for whoever was editing to fix the newly edited portion for screening without anyone noticing.

That’s how we started having fundraising and comedian performances in between premieres. But that was 2013-14. Most filmmakers were self-skilled, doing what was possible at the time.

All these years later, with exposure and opportunities, the belief was that some things are behind us.

Then Opportunities Are Here happened. For three events that have been hosted by this team, we can’t deny that they know how to serve their guests. The food is usually great, but after that, OAH has had a very good number of (for lack of a better word) weird films. Let’s look at it this way, this program is meant to train amateur filmmakers, empower them, and equip them to become prolific storytellers, yet overall, these events, it’s people with years of experience or association that have made good films.

But about the Premiere of You May Kiss the Bride Goodbye, this was a mess with a big red carpet.

For years, we have been telling filmmakers about ways of not making a film, and Opportunities Are Here was specifically here to teach younger creatives how to produce films for the industry.

It wasn’t supposed to be about just film, but marketing and distributing, right?

But OAH’s first feature came out with a trailer that was released three days before the premiere, the poster came out three weeks before the event, and most people had no idea what the film was about.

If that wasn’t enough, You May Kiss the Bride Goodbye was being edited on the D-day. We could go on and on about the story and acting, but we shan’t.

The biggest question, however, is whether the people of OAH feel happy that they have trained the next generation of filmmakers, or are they happy they’ve ticked a third box?