After making giant strides in a series of highly successful projects in Mozambique, Lebanon, Morocco and Ethiopia, CinemArena is finally in Uganda doing its rounds in social transformation, thanks to the Italian cooperation and Amakula Film.

Employing a rare fusion of art, culture and technology, the project has become a potent medium for tackling core health issues that affect diverse communities in the most practical manner.  So excited are the locals in Gulu, where the project is currently operating, that they not only move considerable distances to the chosen locations but brave the cold of the night till as late as midnight. Locals are engaged to deal-on with pressing issues such as such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, marital rape, alcoholism, defilement, early pregnancies, and early marriage. 

CinemArena is an initiative funded by the embassy of Italy – Development Cooperation office. An itinerant caravan travels around rural and remote areas of Uganda, fully equipped to project educational messages together with international and local films, which are projected on a very large screen.

A strong element is the documentary that is shot on location during the day and then people see themselves on the big screen discussing issues at night. The excitement that builds in the audiences arising from locals watching themselves is simply incredible. The traditional Acholi dancers that entertain the crowds through the day’s programme add a good flavour to the mix.

Then comes the time when the audience is called to participate in on-the-spot skits using diverse techniques. This mélange of techniques is what is making an indelible mark on the people that have incessantly fed on a daily menu of poverty, sickness and disease and, worst of all, the trauma of the two-decade-long war, whose effects are far from decade long after the guns fell silent. The idea is not just a display of the infinite possibilities latent in modern technology but also ideological technology.

But can this mix really erase the immeasurable malaise that typifies the traumatised communities for good?

The organisers of the project say that their communication medium is akin to Barak Obama’s “Yes We Can” campaign slogan that saw him rise to the world’s most important office. They argue that it is about the amazing participation of the people and once people get involved with pleasure, that experience is likely to stay in the minds forever.  Putting all these elements together gives them a chance not only to listen to what the campaign has to say but also to be listened to. It creates lasting impressions to the participants as opposed to lecturing them classroom style. In principle, it is about empowerment in a sustainable way. “Sustainability to us means empowering the people because when you leave behind your resources, of course you are leaving a capital that will serve for future development. But it’s the same as when you empower people. Doing so, you are creating a human capital that will represent a resource itself for future development,” said Marco Ballerini, the project manager. The project that is to traverse over 20 sub-counties in Gulu district started on June 25 and ends on July 25.

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