Portal:African cinema/Selected film/17
Who Killed Captain Alex? is a 2010 Ugandan action comedy film written, produced, and directed by Nabwana Isaac Geoffrey Godfrey (IGG), known as Uganda's Quentin Tarantino. The film was made byWakaliwood, an ultra-low-budget studio in Kampala, Uganda founded by Nabwana. The film has gained cult status since becoming a viral sensation as a no-budget action film, produced on a reported budget of under $200. A trailer for the film was uploaded to YouTube in January 2010 followed by the full movie in March 2015. The movie has been viewed over 9.6 million times.
Nabwana was inspired to create the film by his love of Hollywood action movies and martial arts films as well as his desire to change the perception that cinema is only for the well-off in Uganda.
The original version of the film was intended for local distribution in Kampala, with the dialogue recorded in the native language of Luganda. After the Luganda trailer for the film went viral on YouTube, Nabwana adapted the local video joker (VJ), a popular practice in Uganda cinema, for a Western audience and hired VJ Emmie to provide comedic commentary in English.