Publisher: CinemaSerf February 1, 2024
You can clearly see the Bob Marley inspiration behind the music and lyrics of this eponymous Ugandan activist who was elected to their Parliament in 2017. Sworn in, it is soon clear that this man has an agenda to challenge the (at this stage) thirty year presidency of the almost seventy-five year old Yoweri Museveni who has been a dominant force in politics since the overthrow of the Amin regime in 1979. Wine is an erudite and compelling politician whose candid style of presentation, allied with his vibrant and honest style of music gained considerable traction amongst this largely rural and poverty-stricken population and his candidacy for the 2021 election provides much of the bedrock here for a documentary that follows not just his campaigning, but also the authorities' determination to thwart his candidacy by any means - including violently - and ensue the continuation of the existing government order. I suspect had he been fighting Amin, he'd just simply have disappeared, but the omnipresence of cameras constantly surrounding him - film crews and mobile phones alike, probably ensured a degree of his safety, and that of his family, as the world's attention is gradually drawn to this charismatic man. What's pretty clear though is the futility of his struggle. His opponents control the military, and without the support of the military his fight is never likely to achieve very much. This film is actually quite potent at illustrating the sort of benign power of men in uniform carrying guns around your garden. They don't need to be pointing them at you! I do prefer a degree of balance though and whilst there can be little doubt the threats against him were serious and potentially lethal, what we don't really get is commentaries from other parts of Ugandan society - far-flung parts of this sprawling country where there the President had huge swathes of legitimate support. We are sort of left to assume that his cause is entirely just throughout the country, rather than have any sort of debate about his relative merits compared with those of the incumbent. Corruption and abuses of power are obviously rife, but still - just a bit more meat on the bones of this democrat here would have been better for me. Still, it's an informative narrative of a country that still hasn't moved on in generation that uses a archive effectively to make it's point.