By Kampala Sun writer
Ugandan screenwriter and film director Loukman Ali has emerged among the top six winners of a short film competition organised by Netflix and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Netflix is the world’s leading streaming entertainment service with 222 million paid memberships in over 190 countries.
By winning the competition titled African Folktales, Reimagined, Loukman and five other winners will each receive $25,000 (about sh90) plus a production budget of $75,000 (about sh270m) to create a short film.
In a joint statement, the two organisations said the short films will be produced by a local production company under the guidance of Netflix-appointed supervising producers and industry mentors from across the continent.
Other winners and their respective countries are Walter Mzengi from Tanzania, Gcobisa Yako from South Africa, Voline Ogutu from Kenya, Korede Azeez from Nigeria, and Mohamed Echkouna from Mauritania.
Loukman Ali is a Ugandan screenwriter and film director with a background in drawing graphic arts.
Through this self-motivated training and his graphic art background, he has honed his skills as a director, editor, cinematographer, and animator and looks forward to continuing making genre films and eventually creating international TV series.
He is also the first Ugandan director to have his movie The Girl in the Yellow Jumper, on Netflix.
