INTERVIEW: Alan & IGG of Ramon Film Productions, Uganda

- By @TheBlueTook

A few months back, I stumbled across a film clip for an indie production with a difference. The WHO KILLED CAPTAIN ALEX trailer not only made me blissfully happy (you’ll see why!), but also childishly curious, as the action stars were all African, and as it turns out, from the slums of Uganda!

Fast-forward to the present day and I think I’ve now seen everything these brilliantly crazy folks have managed to cinematically create. Because their style and enthusiasm is just so infectious, I couldn’t help but find out all I could about their story, and how a Westerner gave up the bright lights of New York for the unreliable, battery-powered lights of Wakaliga, aka ‘Wakaliwood’!

Luckily, I also managed to grab a few minutes with film director IGG and American producer Alan via intermittent email to talk all things films, slums, Stallone, and why they thought The Slaughtered Bird could double as a UK eatery!

Strap yourselves in and embrace their madness, folks! They’re definitely worth it…

So, Alan and IGG, I’m fucking DELIGHTED to be talking to you two! I absolutely LOVED the trailers and footage I’ve seen from your production company! Tell us a bit about ‘Wakaliwood’ and the extraordinary setup out there?

Alan - It’s pretty wild.

IGG – But it works! Wakaliwood is the nickname of Wakaliga, the small village here in Uganda where I live and make movies, and is now getting known for action. We started maybe 9 years ago and we film here in the slums, our home. That is unusual in Uganda, as even if you are from the ghetto, you do not like to show it and try to make movies that make you seem wealthy. But for us this is our home and our audience. Why not show where we live?

Right on, brother! I like your style.

So, give us a rundown of your film crew – we need to make these folks world stars!!!

Yah! We have many supa stars here and we all do multiple roles. Dauda Bisaso is Rocky from Captain Alex, and he builds all our weapons, jibs and camera gear. Bukenya Charles, or Bruce U – the Ugandan Bruce Lee – is a childhood friend and taught himself Kung Fu from watching Bruce Lee movies. He’s now the co-founder of Uganda’s first official martial arts team and competes internationally. David Musesi died more than anyone else in Captain Alex. I don’t know how many times. Maybe 50. He does our make-up and horror effects. We had to bring him to the hospital because we used real cow blood in Captain Alex and he swallowed too much and got very sick. He almost died. For real! But there are so many people. More than 100 when we call everyone together.

And they came from all over Uganda and different tribes and languages to work with us. They are true fans of action.

Hahaha! Alan, apart from getting to work with “The Ugandan Bruce Lee”, what made you swap New York for Uganda?!

Alan - Well, it wasn’t exactly planned! But I’ve always lived my life as going where the action is. If this is something I wanted, I just did it. And when I saw the trailer for Who Killed Captain Alex on a cell phone in a bar in NYC, I was blown away and had to learn more. I had to meet this person. There was nothing about him on the web. So I bought the cheapest plane ticket I could find, and two weeks later I was in Uganda to track down him. I didn’t even call.

So the trailers made me come, but IGG is why I stayed. Very quickly I realized this is a serious studio operation, albeit one put together with hope and scrap metal. And there was such joy in making the movies. You really feel like you’re 10 years old again and wiffle bats are lightsabers. I had to move. For the first time in my life I feel like I’m where I belong.

Quite ignorantly, I don’t know a great deal about the typical Ugandan lifestyle – can you tell us a bit about that, and how it effects the filmmaking process?

IGG – there are maybe 2 lifestyles here in Uganda. Us, here in the ghettos, and what I shall call the Corporate Class. And they are mostly in Kampala. For them I don’t know, but here for us most things are a struggle. Life can be good, but like right now as we do this we do not have electricity and just using batteries for the laptop. And we can lose power for weeks or just a couple days. Sometimes it is for a few hours and you hear people cheering across the slum when it comes back. So we have to plan for that and always be busy. When we have power I focus on editing and special effects. When we lose, I write and the actors rehearse.

Most Ugandans work many jobs, more than 3 easy. Some actors live with us here who have come from far, others struggle to find enough money to just get transport to come to our meetings and rehearsals.

And of course we have to build everything. The props, jib, guns. My first tripod for Who Killed Captain Alex was a car jack that we modified. It worked!

Life in Uganda forces you to be creative with everything. But I like that. It can make you unique. Life in the ghetto is interesting.

Alan, do you come from a filmmaking background in America?

Alan – Oh yeah, it was always film for me, always. But in different capacities. I never wanted to learn just one thing. The moment I shot my first feature, I dropped the camera to work in sound, then art direction, then accounting, then film festivals and exhibition. I just wanted to learn, against the advice of everyone who told me to just pick one field and stay with it. They were right, in that it hurt me economically as I was always at an entry level position, but it was what I wanted. I wanted to learn.

I was blown away by the trailers for your films! The enthusiasm seriously shines through, and I couldn’t stop watching them! Where do you come up with your ideas?

IGG - Ha, it is creativity. It is Art. I can have maybe the first idea or a scene, maybe something I read in the paper, like a report of cannibalism in Western Uganda – cannibalism is real here, you know – and then I say we need to make a new cannibal film. It is hot! So we work with the actors and share ideas and improvise to write the story. I like working with my own team here in Wakaliwood because I know what each actor can do, and what their schedules are. It makes it very easy for me to plan a film and make it quickly and cheaply.

How do you create the special effects? A certain helicopter scene honestly made we yelp with joy like a little kid!

IGG - I tell u I use any software that comes across me. For Captain Alex I used Premiere Pro 1.1 and I was very proud because it was not 1.0 – it was 1.1, so it must be better! For special effects I use After Effects or Combustion. And I had to learn everything myself as no one here could help me with the software, and it was before internet here so I could not use tutorials.

I tell you, in that scene with the helicopter, the Chief of Police of that area brought me to the station and told me he went to see if that building is still standing. I looked at him and said, if it was not standing, wouldn’t you know!

Who are your main influences, both in the film industry and personally?

IGG - I have to say El Mariachi. I love many films like Chuck Norris, Buddy Spencer, but when I saw Mariachi that I knew we could do this in Uganda. Tho not in the same way, but with the same heart. Seeing that movie made me believe. Many believe, around the world. But today I also enjoy Buster Keaton very much Alan brought that for me from America. The General (starts laughing) – now that is action comedy.

Alan – I wanna say that for me, do you know the movie Gambler? It’s a doc about Nicolas Winding Refn, when making the Pusher Trilogy. I had a feeling that I needed to see this film. You know when you get that? And you know nothing about the movie but you know you should see it? I special ordered it cause it’s hard to find, and I feel it completely changed my life. It’s two guys who believe in something and without hesitation – or perhaps a little – put everything on the line and just make the movie. I saw that a week before I saw the trailer for Captain Alex. I felt I was seeing myself in that movie, and in retrospect, it solidified something in me that I always knew.

IGG – is there action?

Alan – I tell you, when Refn explains to his wife that they’re broke, it is horror.

IGG – The most important people in my life, tho, the ones who I believe made me, are my two grandmothers, Rachael and Monica. That is where the name Ramon Film Productions comes from. It is Ra – Mon. They both raised me and saw that we escaped the violence during the wars of 1980s. I saw much, but they always made me feel safe. I owe everything to them.

Ultimately, what’s your filmmaking goal?

IGG - I want to make Uganda known for making movies. That is what I want. Yes, I would like to travel and learn from other filmmakers, make movies in other countries and Hollywood even, but my heart is here. What I would do with travelling is to help all of Uganda, not just Wakaliwood. If Stallone wants to be in my movie, he will need to eat matoke and learn Luganda! Just kidding. We will bring Wakaliwood to him. hahahaha

Your latest release, Who Killed Captain Alex, is now available (here’s the trailer - the full feature is below the interview for you lucky, lucky people!). Tell us a bit about the shoot…

IGG - Oh, there is a lot to tell. It is Uganda’s First Action Movie. I do not know how many films I have produced. Over 40, I think.

Alan – I counted 46, as of this year.

IGG – hahha I do not know. Really. And most are lost. But for me I always wanted to do action, so you always see some in my movies, but Captain Alex is the first Action Movie – meaning, it is all action. Kung Fu, machine guns, helicopters, everything. And it took years to get all that we need. First you need martial artists and experts in Kung Fu, then the softwares, then the sound effects. It is many.

IGG - And we did that in one month in 2010. Everything, act, writem shoot and edit. And it was during the Kayunga Saga here in Uganda. There were riots and demonstrations, and I was very scared that we would be mistaken for army men by the Police and they could shoot us. For real. Our guns look better than theirs! The actors did not care, they were happy running and screaming ATTACK! But imagine if you are military and hear ATTACK! What would they do?

Alan - And yes, Captain Alex is finally out. And we wanted to make it free, so anyone can see it. It is on YouTube, Torrent, BitTorrent Bundle, everywhere. You need to see it. It’s the El Mariachi of the slums, and just as funny. Also it has the world’s first English language Video Joker. It is like a narrator but also a comedian. It is how people enjoy movies in Uganda, especially in the ghettos. The VJ loves Captain Alex, but also makes fun of it half the time.

And you have a Kickstarter right now?

Alan – Yeah! It runs all of March to April 1. First we wanted to raise enough money to make the next action film

IGG - $160

Alan – Yeah $160. That’s how much Wakaliwood needs to destroy the world. But now we’re hoping to raise a bit more to get better computer parts, back up drives, upgrade software

IGG – Build a new rehearsal room

Alan – Yeah yeah. $25,000 would change lives here. Also make Wakaliwood a sustainable business by offering their movies, postrs, T-shirts, everything on line for fans around the world. And they’ve got them.

And I understand you can even be in the new movie?!!

IGG – Yes! We need to kill people all over the world! You and your friends can be action movie stars – Ugandan action supa stars – without even leaving your home. You just shoot yourselves dying, and you send it to us. If you want your head to explode, no problem. Or crushed by a building… Just shoot yourselves in your home town, and we do the rest, and out you in the movie.

And it is FREE! Just send us and email or go to our website! Already we have people from Indonesia, Spain, Germany, Australia, all the crazy countries.

Where can our readers find more details about your work and buy some super-duper merchandise?!

Alan - Everything is on our website – wakaliwood.com. And you can say hello!

Will you help spread The Slaughtered Bird word out there in Uganda?

IGG - Yeah, for sure. They may think it is a place to eat. Maybe we can make it both. hahahha

IGG, Alan, I love you guys! Keep in touch. I’m a MASSIVE fan. All the very best.

So there you have it, folks - ‘Wakaliwood’! And if THAT wasn’t enough for you, here, as promised, is WHO KILLED CAPTAIN ALEX in all it’s wacky glory…

Thanks for reading.

@TheBlueTook