Ugandan political documentary, ‘Bobi Wine: The People’s President’ has missed an Oscar Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
The film was nominated for ‘Best Documentary’ at the 2024 Oscars held on Sunday night.
However, the award was won by the Ukrainian film, ‘20 Days in Mariupol’, which was shot inside the besieged port city during the assault by Russian forces.
The film was considered a strong contender for the award, having already picked up best documentary awards from Bafta and the Directors Guild of America.
“In the end it triumphed over contenders including Ugandan political documentary Bobi Wine: The People’s President, and Alzheimer’s study The Eternal Memory,” said the Guardian.
The documentary, ‘Bobi Wine: The People’s President’, shows the Ugandan opposition figure and his National Unity Platform struggle against an increasingly violent backlash from the government forces in the leadup to the 2021 election.
The documentary was directed by Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp.
Speaking to GRAMMY.com from Los Angeles ahead of the Oscars, Kyagulanyi said he’s adamant about what he would do when the ruling NRM government falls.
“When I become president – because I know someday I will – the first thing I will do in the first 100 days is to make sure I don’t stay president,” said Bobi.
Asked what it like was to have cameras following him when he was in ere in dramatic or difficult situations with his family, Bobi responded: “Well, of course, we did not give complete access to the cameras, but with time, we completely forgot the cameras existed. These people, the cameramen that followed us across the world, became friends. And later, they became comrades in the struggle.”
He added: “When we were beaten (by the police), they were not scared. They were beaten, they were jailed, and they were tortured. One of them, Moses Bwayo, was shot in the face. And right now he cannot live in Uganda, he’s seeking political asylum in America. So it was equally hard for them.”
Bobi said the cameramen realized that they were not only filming a politician, or a person pursuing a certain goal.
“They’re filming the revolution happening right in front of their faces. Sometimes we kept teasing ourselves, saying that the revolution will be televised, because there was always a camera around. But we completely forgot about the cameras, everybody was just in the moment,” he observed.
