Who Killed Captain Alex?

Isaac Nabwana shot this in the Wakaliga district of Kampala on a computer he assembled himself, with a cast drawn from his neighbours. The reported budget was under two hundred dollars, though producer Alan Hofmanis later put the real figure at eighty-five. The story concerns the civil violence that erupts after the killing of Captain Alex, a beloved Ugandan soldier and kung fu expert. What actually makes it singular is the Video Joker tradition. In Uganda films are screened with live narrators, and here VJ Emmie talks over the whole thing, commenting on the action, addressing the audience, cracking jokes. The Blu-ray offers the option of watching without the narration, but for most viewers the narration is the film. A trailer went up on YouTube in 2010, the full film followed in 2015, and it has since passed ten million views. The expected response was mockery of its cheapness. Instead audiences met the work with respect for what was made under impossible conditions. Who it is for: viewers who like work that sets its own rules and proves cinema is made from persistence rather than money. Who it is not for: anyone who needs technical polish, continuity or clean editing.