My SDI

Join us for our upcoming In Conversation event with Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo, the co-directors of Bobi Wine: The People's President. 

By RSVPing to this event, you will receive the Zoom details to join us on the day.

Attendees will receive a private link to watch the film after the In Conversation event. 

Christopher Sharp (Director | Producer)

Christopher Sharp was born in Uganda and has a deep appreciation for the country’s people, culture and extraordinary natural beauty. He spent his early working life as a film editor in London and more recently has revisited the profession as director of ‘Bobi Wine: The People’s President’.

He met Bobi and Barbie in 2017 and was inspired by their courage. Christopher believed in their extraordinary capacity to enact change, and instantly knew that their enormous sacrifice and resilience needed to be documented.

He worked closely with a number of talented individuals, including Editor Paul Carlin, as well as acclaimed Producer John Battsek, Co-Director Moses Bwayo, and other inspirational cinematographers. Collectively they have made a film which he hopes gives courage to all those who struggle under oppressive regimes.

Moses Bwayo (Director | Director of Photography)

Born in the village of Bududa on the slopes of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda, Moses was introduced to filmmaking by peeking through cracks in the walls of local kibandas, bootleg movie theatres housed in wooden shacks. Wrapt in the exciting camerawork and storytelling of Hollywood’s martial arts films, Moses immediately fell in love with cinema.

After meeting Oscar®-nominated director Mira Nair, who was facilitating a workshop for aspiring filmmakers at her Maisha Film Labs, he was chosen as a boom operator on Nair’s short documentary “A Fork, a Spoon and a Knight” (2014). Subsequently, Nair took Moses under her wing and mentored him for two years, during which he performed sundry jobs for Disney’s “Queen of Katwe” (2016).

In 2016, Moses started his own production company in Kampala, Jajja Productions, where he oversaw production and post-production services on various commercial, documentary, and feature films. Moses’ reputation as a courageous verité cinematographer and local fixer began to grow, shooting for ABC, BBC, and VICE News for their Uganda-based productions.

In late 2017 he began work on the feature documentary “Bobi Wine: The People’s President.” Working closely with co-director and producer Christopher, Moses spent five harrowing years following Bobi Wine, a pop star turned politician who ran for president opposing Yoweri Museveni, a dictator who has been in power since 1986. During the production, Moses was arrested, imprisoned, and shot in the face at close range while filming. Two-time Oscar winner John Battsek also produced the film. With mounting threats to him and his family for making the film, Moses fled Uganda to the United States.

Bobi Wine: The People's President | 118 min | UK

In Uganda’s 2021 presidential election, music star, activist and opposition leader Bobi Wine, together with his wife Barbie, rallies his people in a dangerous fight for freedom from President Museveni’s oppressive 35-year regime.

“Bobi Wine: The People’s President” premiered to a 10-minute standing ovation at the 2022 Venice Film Festival in September 2022, where it sold to National Geographic before making its U.S. premiere at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival. The film won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2022 Hamptons International Film Festival.

***

Our In Conversation series hosted by Noe Mendelle feature inspiring filmmakers delving into the journey of their career and the process of crafting a film - from developing an idea, working with participants, funding, editing and distribution. These free, interactive virtual events are an incredible opportunity to speak to acclaimed filmmakers and learn key tools and insights for working in the industry. 

For your calendars - upcoming In Conversation events: 

- 7th December @ 1 PM GMT / Anna Hints for Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

- 14th December @ 2 PM GMT / Madeleine Glavin for Beyond Utopia