Feature: I have always wanted to tell African stories through film – Mirembe

Pulse Uganda’s Eric Kyama talked to her.

When and how did you start acting?

This is something I have always loved to do. Back in school, I was an entertainment prefect. We would organise dramas. Most of the schools I went to were in the village, so we would travel to compete in drama school competitions. I joined the industry as a professional actress in 2015.

Are there people you drew inspiration from while growing up?

I always wanted to tell African stories because our stories are so rich and our people love them. I wanted stories that crossed borders, not those that only ended up in our sitting rooms. Not stories that end up only within Uganda. While growing up, I used to watch a TV show at around 5 or 6 p.m. called Egoli: The Place of Gold. We had a black-and-white TV then. There was that one-hour multichoice every day. I would do my housework very well and get prepared to watch that show. I kept wondering if such productions would ever be made in Uganda. One time I was watching and saw Philip Luswata in one of the episodes, which mesmerised me. From there, I was inspired and believed that everything was possible.

Did your parents play a part in influencing the kind of career path you would take?

Not really. You know how it is with African parents. They believe you can either be a lawyer or a doctor. Apart from my mother, who did so later in life. They would throw comments like "Omwana oyo, mu Sunday School wuyo, mu bye’emizannyo, wuyo." This girl is active in Sunday School and sports. On school events such as Speech Day, I would be all over the place receiving gifts from other parents for my good acting. They would see I had an interest in acting but knew nothing would come out of it. That’s what they believed.

Are you still working as a dental assistant at Pan Dental Surgery?

Yes, I still work at Pan Dental Surgery, but I had to take a few months off to work on my new TV show.

During the shooting of one of the scenes in new TV drama series DamaLie Pulse Live Uganda

Haven’t you found challenges balancing a daytime job and acting?

Of course, those are challenges that we face every day. I have gone for auditions, and when people give me roles, they want me to be there every day (from morning to evening) because I fit the role very well, but I can’t be there because of my day-time job. Most stopped casting me because I don’t have the time, which is understandable because it is business for them. So, I have found challenges in not being cast.

If you landed a big role on a big TV show paying handsomely well (perhaps six times more than your professional job at $60,000), would you resign to focus on acting?

For me, it's not so much about the money. The money will always be there. The money will come. You’ll find jobs that actually have bigger, bigger, bigger amounts of figures, even more than what you have mentioned. The script is the most important thing for me when considering a role in a play or drama. When the script does something to my back, I can’t be part of it. when the script is good, even if they are not paying me. I have done projects for which I have not been paid. I have a passion for this industry. I want us to reach a level where the quality of storytelling is up there.

How do you rate Uganda’s story-telling through film?

Filmmaking in Uganda has grown, and it's growing at a very fast rate. If it was a pregnancy, the baby is born, and now what is required is taking care of the baby until it matures. When you look at the productions coming out now, from storytelling to production design to camera work and directing, Ugandans are doing really amazing work, and it will only take a few years to get to where we want to be.

You have starred in quite a number of productions; how have you been able to establish yourself as an actress following your appearance in them?

Every show you are cast in comes with different demands. Every one of them comes with different ways of establishing yourself or having people look at you when the show airs or is done. I believe that with what I have done, people can gauge me.

Onset Pulse Live Uganda

Let’s talk about your current work, DamaLie. What is the story behind this production?

The show is about people who go abroad and come back with nothing. Initially, I wanted to do a feature film but later decided to develop it into a series. I would read and watch stories of people who have found themselves in this kind of situation. There was a court case going on about a gentleman called Kasoma who killed his children upon getting back to Uganda after being deported. Then there was a story in one of the dailies about a girl who jumped off the Workers House after coming back from Abu Dhabi. I knew there was a story behind these stories. There have been so many stories, even around me and around my people. They will tell you stories of people who came back from abroad expecting to find a house or something they had been funding, only to come back to nothing. Sometimes the people who do this are not necessarily bad people. There are those who are good but are only forced to do so because of circumstances, while others are bad. This is a life story. The show is about a family that owns a pharmaceutical legacy in Uganda. They own pharmacies and a hospital in Uganda. The man had gone to study in China and was sending money back home to do some work. It is a story about everyone. Where I work, I have been seeing people coming for dental checkups because they are going to Abu Dhabi. They spend a lot of money when going to these countries. So, it is a story about everyone.

What does the audience expect from the TV show?

They expect a lot of drama. There was a lot of drama, a lot of laughter, a lot of tension, and a lot of love and pain while watching.

The Character you play in DamaLie is that of the ‘bad’ woman; do you think this will affect your public image?

It's just drama. We are here to educate the public. There are people like Damalie in real life. The things we are doing in DamaLie are there to help people know how to approach similar situations.

How was Kafa Coh received?

I would say it did well. We had seven days of premier. We had two full halls. The other days were not as full, but at least people turned up.