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6 ebenezer Friday, july 29, 2022 news nsiimenta’s film makes mark at international film festivals School of Journalism, Media and Communication By Eriah Lule (This article was edited from the January 2022 published version) Miika is a 14-year-old fictional character living in northern Uganda. As the story goes, her family had enough of the tyranny of the government forces so she took matters into her own hands to save the day. This 3D short, five-minute animated film by the same name as the main character, “Miika,” is the darling of international film festivals and written and directed by Uganda Christian University (UCU) alum Shevon Nsiimenta. Among honours is the Best Animation Film Category at the CineOdyssey Film Festival and being named a finalist at the Auber International Film Festival and Official Selection at the Flickfair Film Festival. At the Los Angeles International Film Festival, Nsiimenta was a nominee for the Best First Time Female Director, and her film, “Miika,” got a nomination for the Best Animation Film. All this happened before the film hit the cinemas as Nsiimenta said it would anytime soon. The inspiration for Nsiimenta’s storyline is from the experience of watching or hearing about women and children who end up as the primary victims of war and tyranny. From 1986 to 2006, there was civil war in northern Uganda, orchestrated by the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group and terrorist organization. As a result of the war, many women in northern Uganda suffered rape, torture, murder, forced marriages and domestic Shevon Nsiimenta violence. The regime of former Ugandan Download a QR code scanner app on your smartphone and use it to scan this code, to watch Miika film President Idi Amin, which was from 1971 to 1979, has been described as tyrannical. Nsiimenta’s film is set in northern Uganda during the reign of Amin. Despite the haunting tale of desperation that Miika’s family faced, Nsiimenta explains that she wanted to pass a message that no matter the amount of horror an individual faces, they can always turn tables on the oppressors. “I chose a 14-year-old to deliver the family from its horrors because at that age, they are still innocently bold enough to take on the world,” says Nsiimenta, a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication at UCU. Miika is short for Malaika – a name that means Angel in Uganda. “Indeed, I wanted Miika to be the angel for her family,” Nsiimenta explains of her script. The success that “Miika” has achieved can be attributed, in part, to Kemiyondo Coutinho, a Ugandan playwright, actress and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. In 2020, Kemiyondo launched an initiative to help who is nsiimenta? She is a daughter of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Sheldon Mwesigwa, the Bishop of Ankole Diocese in western Uganda and former Chairperson of UCU University Council. She attended Mbarara Preparatory School in western Uganda before relocating to central Uganda, where she attended Kampala Parents School, Gayaza High School and, later, UCU. Nsiimenta says UCU instilled in her a sense of discipline, self-respect and smartness, virtues she has found useful in her professional and personal life. But she also had something to learn from those who taught her. “I also had admirable women to look up to in my faculty. Prof. Monica Chibita and Dr. Emilly Maractho served as wonderful examples to base my image on at the workplace,” she says. Nsiimenta works as the Executive Advertising Assistant at Roofings Uganda limited, a manufacturer of steel and construction materials in Uganda. up-andcoming Ugandan female filmmakers to bring their stories to life on screen. “Miika” was one of five films funded through this effort. Uganda’s only university podcast launches at UCU By Patty Huston-Holm (This article was edited from the April 2022 published version) Andrew Bugembe’s early experience with audio journalism involved walking outside the Uganda Christian University (UCU) gate and, with his phone, recording what random people along a dusty street thought about topical sports issues. He, thereafter, walked back on the Mukono campus and shared his “African English” recordings with five friends who used this information raw or as background for stories in UCU’s student newspaper, The Standard. “I wasn’t good at writing; I wasn’t good at sports,” Andrew, who hails from Mityana in central Uganda, admitted. “The credit I got for this work was ‘thank you,’ and that was enough. God puts you where He can use you.” Sitting on a black, wrought-iron bench between the newspaper and communications offices in the third month since postCovid, in-person learning resumed, the final-year student in UCU’s School of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC) shared his comfort and enjoyment of being behind the scenes. As UCU launched in January 2022 its first podcast – the only university podcast in Uganda – Andrew, was the guy splicing Andrew Bugembe, member of the initial UCU podcast team and a student in the UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, shown in a photo taken in Mbale the audio and monitoring the analytics of who was listening and from what devices. “It was exciting,” he said. “I didn’t even know the word ‘podcast’ until I was tapped to be a part of it last year.” The UCU podcast training for a small group of students began through David’s United Church of Christ in Canal Winchester, Ohio, USA, in June 2021. Students used the church’s podcast platform to conduct interviews on topics such as Black Lives Matter, Hate Speech, Street Preaching and Fake Pastors. Scan this QR code and listen to some of the UCU podcasts that have been produced by students Under the supervision of veteran broadcaster and UCU lecturer, Geoffrey Ssenoga, and Hands-on experience Student Nicollette Nampijja, one of the first UCU Podcast interviewers, expressed appreciation for UCU’s launch into the podcast medium. Despite her experience speaking in front of classmates in secondary school, her “heart was beating” for the first recording she did at UCU. With three podcast interviews under her belt, the confidence of the 22-year-old has soared. “The UCU podcast has added excitement for students while giving them hands-on experience in a cutting-edge part of our industry,” lecturer Geoffrey Ssenoga said. “That we added the podcasting piece to what we teach and did it in the midst of coming off a pandemic lockdown speaks volumes about where UCU is going and can be.” with support by the School of JMC head of undergraduate studies, John Semakula, UCU started its own podcast. By early mid-year 2022, students had recorded and produced two dozen podcasts under the umbrella of the new on-line Standard newspaper with the theme “Lighting our Way.” With a combination of fun (male-female differences, etc.) and serious (Ankrah Foundation, etc.) topics, the initial target audience was students. “Students are always excited about new ways of applying their knowledge and skill,” said Ssenoga, a lifelong journalist with most of his work in television. “We were teaching radio, but during the Covid shutdown, the practical application of that was mostly non-existent. Podcast recordings via Zoom allowed students to learn this form of media while practicing coronavirus safety protocols.” As the School of JMC revises its curriculum for the Council of Higher Education, podcasting – the fastest-growing media channel with two million globally – is included. While not necessarily listening to recordings in the initial phase of UCU’s podcast, two Ugandan professionals, New Vision’s Stephen Ssenkaaba and Max Adii, are lauding them. Together, they started the New Vision podcast three years ago. “I came to understand how podcasts were relevant to people in Uganda and Africa where the culture revolves around talking, and having conversations,” Ssenkaaba said. “More and more, media audiences are shifting to on-line content,” Adii said. “Podcasting is Internetbased – allowing our audience potential to be people all over the world.”

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