Call me Kuchu makes it to Hollywood

Ugandan film has been on a high this year, with the inauguration of the UCC film awards and the outing of high tech movies like The Ugandan, seems the industry is on the right path.

Early this month, a pro LGBT documentary film, God Loves Uganda made the shortlist for an Academy nomination, the movie talks about the role of American evangelism in infrituating the homophobia tendencies of Ugandans, the movie has never premiered in Uganda because the directors are afraid of the backlash it might come with.

Before Ugandans could even give these directors their piece of mind, another emotional documentary, Call me Kuchu was released in the US about our attitudes towards homosexuality.

Call me Kuchu is a 2012 that had originally failed to make it big but with the increasing homophobia reports about Uganda in the foreign press, the documentary has since been picked up by an international distributor.

The documentary sets off In Kampala, where two men are having a wedding ceremony with a pastor and friends. However, it is a very quiet event and everyone is dressing casually to avoid attracting attention. Meanwhile, we see footage of pastors and politicians describing homosexuality as a Western and sinful activity.

The documentary looks at the recently passed  bill that threatens to make homosexuality punishable by death. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers follow David Kato - Uganda's first openly gay man - and his fellow activists as they work against the clock to defeat the legislation while combatting vicious persecution in their daily lives. But no one, not even the filmmakers are prepared for the brutal murder that shakes their movement to the its core and sends shock waves around the world.

Call Me Kuchu depicts the last year in the life of a David Kato, whose wisdom and achievements were not fully recognized until after his death, and whose memory has inspired a new generation of human rights advocates.

The documentary directed by Katherine Fairfax and Malika Worrall however goes on to distort facts about, the way and how Kato really died, they say he waskilled for what he was yet his neighbours had no idea he was even gay. The movie also depicts Ugandans as barbaric people that even burn and kill gay people on the streets.

Call me Kuchu has received good reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, New York Times and many major publications that have lauded the documentary for being an ‘eye openner’ about the plight of gay people in Uganda.