Feature film
IMANI (Feature film)

82 minutes


"IMANI" SHORT SYNOPSIS
The lives of a former child soldier, a young maid and a break-dancer overlap in this beautiful and unique Ugandan triptych about perseverance, sacrifice and "Imani" - (faith)

"IMANI" LONG SYNOPSIS
In the course of just one day we venture into the lives of three characters within the diverse landscape of contemporary Uganda.  Imani provides A refreshing look at Uganda post Idi Amin, post LRA (Lords Resistance Army).

A fresh new talent, director Caroline Kamya, gives us an intimate portrait of the lives of a child soldier, a maid and a hip hop dancer living in Uganda today. 

"Olweny" is a deep thinking, intense 12 year old former child soldier. A new chapter in his live begins as he starts his journey to his rural home after a few weeks of post-war rehabilitation. Is he ready to return to his family who have not seen him for over 4 years or are demons of his past going to resurface once again?
"Mary" is a strong and determined 25 year old maid who returns from her village to a wealthy suburb in the capital Kampala where she works. Family responsibilities create havoc in her daily routine forcing her to make some tough decisions that will forever affect her life. 
"Armstrong" is fun loving and talented 18 year old break dancer with a turbulent background.  He makes plans to return to the inner city "hood" to stage a free dance performance but skeletons from his past surface and force him to face what he thought he had left behind.

Imani is a visual feast of stunning worlds revealing the little known city of Kampala and the formerly war torn region of Gulu providing a unique perspective from this region of Africa.


Music is an essential ingredient in this feature and the blend of popular contemporary local language acoustic and hiphop flavours, alongside traditional African beats carries the narratives skillfully woven together to form the tapestry of both rural and urban life in Uganda today.

“Imani” is the debut- feature film by award winning director Caroline Kamya and written by her sister, social anthropologist, Dr Agnes Kamya. “The Kamya Sisters” are the ambitious filmmaking sister act behind Imani.

IMANI won the OIF (Organisation internationale de la francophonie) prize for the best full-length film at the prestigious African Film festival in Montréal,  Canada called “Vues D’Afrigue” that ran in April and May 2011.

Next screening at IFEMA Malmö Sweden, April 2012.

IMANI – Theatrical Release a success in South Africa 2011

IMANI was recently screened  as part of a Zanzibar Film Festival in
Johannesburg at the Bioscope cinema , an  independent and very
progressive cinema , and of all the films screened, Imani was the most
popular.  The Bioscope would like to rescreen the fllm at the end of May.

WORLD PREMIERE OF iMANi and in COMPETITION! AT THE BERLINALE FILM FESTIVAL

WINNER as BEST FILM IN AFRICAN LANGUAGE at AFRICAN MOVIE ACADEMY AWARDS