A few words about your artistic career
My love of storytelling drove me to tell stories in any form. I started writing articles for the newspaper and that developed my love of literally hearing my characters speak and seeing them on screen. So that was the beginning of my writing for radio and the big screen.
How long have you been an artist?
I started writing almost 15 years ago and I've never looked back. .
Why did you apply for this scholarship? How will the scholarship support you?
As the lock-in persisted, even the few jobs I had already confirmed were cancelled and decided they would do things online or not at all. This grant will help to maintain my livelihood while continuing to create.
What are your concrete artistic objectives after this residency?
After this residency, I'd like to produce my short film. I'll be working on developing a treatment and a shootable script during the residency.
What did you achieve during this creative residency? What is the result (work created)? Who was involved in the creative process?
I started developing a story with the idea I'd proposed to Africalia. I started by deciding on the plot, then the synopsis, and then I began to develop a script. I went through several procedures to develop the story and experimented with different ways of presenting it. After the fifth draft, I decided to start writing the screenplay.
Once the film script was finished, I decided to adapt the story into a short theatre script as well. So the end result of this residency is a short film script and a play script. I'm happy with the result because I've achieved more than I set out to do.
How do you think these activities help us to think about the world today, in relation to the COVID-19 crisis, and/or about building for the future?
In Uganda, particularly at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the LGBTQ community was directly affected by the search of one of the refuge houses and the arrest of two of its occupants, who were imprisoned for several weeks. Once again, the community was reminded of the fragility of its situation. The story I'm telling reflects the reality of all members of the gay community in Uganda. For me, telling a story starts a conversation and that's what I've done. So in terms of shaping the future, my stories, however they are told in that respect, draw attention to the situation of a marginalised group of people, even in the midst of a pandemic, and help us to start a conversation to shed light on a situation.
How did you feel during the residency? And afterwards?
During the residency, I was happy and confident that I could produce a story because I had lived that story. As the residency draws to a close, I'm pleased with the result because I've done more than I set out to do. I had intended to write a short film and I managed to create this script as well as adapting the story for a play.
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Discover the work of Achiro Patricia Olwoch
