The Heart Of Microbudget Filmmaking In ‘Once Upon A Time In Uganda’

Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SGA-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Once Upon a Time in Uganda being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Once Upon a Time in Uganda is a feature documentary film that follows Isaac Nabwana (Who Killed Captain Alex 2015) and Alan Hofmanis’ (Bad Black 2016) journey together. Their quest is to “bring Isaac’s work to the West,” as they say. Ultimately, to get Isaac’s Ramon Film Productions what most indie filmmakers want – a sustainable, well-paying career by doing what they love, making movies.

Synopsis

Nabwana is a brickmaker, living in a slum of Wakaliga, Uganda. His love of action films had him dreaming of making them, which began with coming up with script ideas while making bricks. As a child growing up during civil unrest and conflict, Isaac found a sort of solace in these movies that had the big action hero coming in, blowing shit up, and ultimately getting the bad guys.

One day he decided to acquire what he needed and make his own action films. Self-taught, Isaac trained others to work on and be in his ultra-low-budget productions and they all followed a labor of love. They would then share their labor of love on YouTube for all the world to see.

 

Alan Hofmanis, at the time a filmmaker and film festival programmer from New York, discovered Ramon Film Productions’ YouTube channel and felt like he had to meet the team. So, he packed up and flew to Uganda and set out on a journey to meet Isaac Nawbana and his filmmaking family, which he would ultimately become a part of.

Once Upon a Time in Uganda shows a friendship grow into a deep familial bond forged through this crazy trip of making Ramon Film Productions lucrative for all involved. Alan even expresses that he feels like Isaac is his creative soulmate. Which, as he explains it, is just beautiful.

Excellent Storytelling

Director/co-writer Cathryne Czubek (Screw You Cancer 2013), co-writer Amanda Huges (A Girl and a Gun 2013), and team did such a fantastic job curating these real-life experiences and presenting them in a way that you feel like you’re watching an incredible fictional narrative, taking you through the highs and lows of following a dream to the depths of your spirit. Isaac, Alan and, at times, Isaac’s wife Harriet (also deeply involved in the filmmaking process), will share some deeply personal or emotional concerns that remind you they’re very much real people, and this story may not have a happy ending, so to speak.

 

Working a “day job” while trying to get your “dream” off the ground, while combating all the things life could possibly throw at you makes it even harder to get anywhere. But you never stop, because you know it’s where you’re meant to be. You know it’s what you’re meant to do.

I’ve seen people find their creative families and creative soulmates. And it’s something I hope for myself to have one day. Because it’s tough. Plain and simple. But when you have a group of people around you who love what you’re all doing as much as you do, and you’re committed to seeing it through the highs and lows and hopefully to victory, it makes those lows less soul-crushing. Or at least that’s how I imagine it. If I’m wrong, someone who has this, please enlighten me.

Takeaways

Once Upon a Time in Uganda is presented in a unique way where you have some cinematic moments and re-enactments that tease what they could produce with a budget, amidst the docu-follow keeping you fixated on where the story is going. On another note, one of the more important things I feel they highlight in the film is how someone can have widespread fame and recognition, but still not “make it” in the sense of having working and livable wages.

This seems to be something that a lot of people outside of the industry don’t understand, especially when thinking about the current strikes in Hollywood. People think that writers and actors are all rich and “living the life” when there are so many who are – and have been – a missed gig or paycheck away from homelessness. They also don’t realize how many people contribute to the finished products they see on their screens.

 

Once Upon a Time in Uganda is such a special film. Isaac Nabwana and Alan Hofmanis’ story feels like the making of a fantastic “Hollywood origin” story that can be inspiring at some points but sobering at others. Watching it feels like when you follow your heart, real magic happens… But for those unaware, it’s not for the faint of heart because it’s not an easy road to follow.

You can check out Once Upon a Time in Uganda on your favorite VOD platform.