The European Union in partnership with the International Trade Center, a multilateral agency in its joint mandate with the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, has announced the return of season two of its business acceleration project for young entrepreneurs in the Ugandan film industry.
The Project, ‘Opportunities Are Here’ (OAH), launched in 2023, casts a spotlight on its mandate of boosting the Ugandan film industry to provide young talents in Uganda with customized mentoring, networking opportunities and media visibility to create new export prospects while enhancing the trade capacity within the film industry.
European Union Ambassador to Uganda, Jan Sadek, expressed delight with the launch of the second season of the innovative project.
“I am thrilled to see the launch of Season 2 of this new initiative for training young people in filmmaking and production. It's a powerful platform for nurturing creativity, empowering talent, and fostering cultural exchange,” he said.
Phiona Bukulu the country lead at International Trade Center noted that the return of OAH is evident of the current gap in terms of financing, talent acquisition and management in the Ugandan film industry.
“When we launched our first cohort of the ‘Opportunities Are Here' business accelerator programme, we were overwhelmed with the reception from several content creators. It however showed us the gap in the industry that needs to be closed if Ugandan filmmakers are to compete favorably with international filmmakers,” she said, noting that Season 1 of the project had nurtured, equipped and trained talented filmmakers who dared to submit their applications.
She encouraged “skeptical and yet talented” Ugandan filmmakers to embrace this program as it is a game-changer.
“I would like to urge Ugandan filmmakers that may have missed out on season 1 to take advantage of season 2 of this unique program. Through the Opportunities are Here, filmmakers are trained in areas pertaining to talent acquisition and management, professional skills development and partnership with key stakeholders,” she said.