Bad Black
Directed byNabwana I.G.G.
Written byNabwana I.G.G.
Alan Ssali Hofmanis
Produced byNabwana I.G.G.
Alan Ssali Hofmanis
Starring
  • Nalwanga Gloria
  • Alan Ssali Hofmanis
  • Bisaso Dauda
Narrated byVJ Emmie
CinematographyNabwana I.G.G.
Edited byNabwana I.G.G.
Music byKizito Vicent
Production
company
Distributed byWakaliwood
Release dates
  • September 25, 2016 (2016-09-25) (Fantastic Fest)
  • December 21, 2019 (2019-12-21) (YouTube)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUganda
LanguagesLuganda
English
BudgetUS$65

Bad Black is a 2016 Ugandan action-comedy film written, produced, and directed by Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey Nabwana (IGG), by Wakaliwood, an ultra low-budget studio in Kampala, Uganda.[1][2]

Plot

A man named Swaaz, shortened for Schwarzenegger, robs a bank and gets chased by police. He orders his child assistant, Buddy Spencer, to jump from the car with the money as he leads police elsewhere. After being chased for some time, Swaaz is eventually trapped and is killed when he accidentally shoots his car, causing it to explode.

In the slums of Kampala, Uganda, a young girl runs away from home and ends up in a child trafficking ring led by a former Uganda People's Defence Force commando in the ghetto. One day, while collecting metal scraps, she is viciously assaulted by multi-millionaire Hirigi when she mistakenly takes the tire iron of his van. After enduring weeks of abuse and witnessing other children being murdered in cold blood, the girl takes matters into her own hands and kills the ring leader.

Ten years later, the girl has grown up to become "Bad Black", and the ghetto children have become the biggest crime syndicate in Kampala with Black as the leader. She seduces Hirigi in a bar to exact her revenge on him. Meanwhile, Alan Ssali, an American doctor whose whole family were allegedly U.S. Army commandos, is in Kampala giving aid to the people of the slums. He encounters Bad Black, who mistakes him for a commando due to his designer dog tags. After receiving Alan's business card, Bad Black sneaks into his hotel and steals his money and passport. When the police refuse to help him, Alan receives kung fu commando training from his young assistant, known by his pseudonym "Wesley Snipes", before storming through the slums to look for Bad Black.

Hirigi's teenage son, Kenny, is banished by his father and goes to Black's gang in search for drugs. Hirigi tells Black about his plans to buy the ghetto and throw the gang out. Black brings Hirigi to her grandma where it is revealed that Hirigi is Black's grandfather and that he has been dating a ghetto woman. Hirigi threatens Black by throwing her out and runs away disgusted.

One day, a drug deal between Bad Black and a rival syndicate is disrupted by Kampala Police forces. The gangsters frantically run away from the cops, only to be gunned down by Alan, who corners Bad Black and recovers his dog tags before handing her to the police. At the prison, Black meets a fellow female inmate named Flavia who claims that her rich father banished her and that she never got to see her own child after birth before being taken to prison. Later that night, Kenny and the syndicate attempt to break Black out. The following riot allows two other women to escape but Black stays with Flavia to comfort her as she is set to be released in two days. Days later, Flavia is released and is present at Black's trial. Black explains that her father was Swaaz and that he robbed the bank to pay for the expenses of her birth but also claims that her mother was killed during the birth. It is then revealed that Flavia is Black's mother and the two hug as the court is adjourned.

Three months later, Alan resumes his medical mission in Wakaliga, but with Bad Black as his nurse. Hirigi's wife suddenly appears and opens fire at the medical camp, killing Alan in the process.

Cast

  • Nalwanga Gloria as Bad Black
    • Kirabo Beatrice as young Bad Black
  • Alan Ssali Hofmanis as Doctor Alan Ssali
  • Bisaso Dauda as Hirigi
  • Nakaye Janati as Mukyala Hiriji
  • Kasule Rolean as Wesley Snipes
  • Ssebankyaye Mohammed as Swaz
  • Mugisha Henry as Buddy Spencer
  • Nabatanzi Hawah as Flavia
  • Nakatudde Madinah as young Flavia
  • Kabuye John as Chairman
  • Nattembo Racheal as Racheal
  • Okello Joseph as Cobra
  • Namatovu Annet as Maama Black
  • Muhumuza as the Judge
  • VJ Emmie as the voice of Video Joker

Release and reception

Bad Black had its world premiere at the 2016 Fantastic Fest, where it won the Audience Award and Nabwana IGG won the Best Director award for Action Features.[3]

The film was released alongside Who Killed Captain Alex? in the Wakaliwood Supa Action Vol. 1 Blu-ray/DVD combo by the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) on 14 May 2019. The Blu-ray release features the option to watch Who Killed Captain Alex? with or without the VJ Emmie narration, plus subtitles in 40 languages, and welcome videos by Nabwana IGG for 14 countries.[4]

Much like Who Killed Captain Alex?, Bad Black was generally received well by critics and audiences alike. Richard Kuipers of Variety called the film "A no-budget brew of comedy, action and wisecracking voiceover narration by self-taught Ugandan filmmaker Nabwana I.G.G."[5]

Bad Black was a critical and audience favorite at the 2017 Seattle International Film Festival.[6][7] The film earned an encore presentation on the last day of the festival, making the total number of screenings four.[6] The Seattle audience question and answer session with the director was on Skype.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Vashaw, Austin (1 August 2017). "Fantasia 2017: Wakaliwood's BAD BLACK, Most Unexpendable Ugandan Movie!". Cinapse. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  2. ↑ Adams, Jason (19 June 2019). "Awfully Good: Wakaliwood's Bad Black". JoBlo.com. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "Bad Black". Fantastic Fest. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  4. ↑ "Wakaliwood Supa Action Volume 1: Who Killed Captain Alex? + Bad Black Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  5. ↑ Kuipers, Richard (18 July 2017). "BiFan Film Review: 'Bad Black'". Variety. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 "'Bad Black': Seattle International Film Festival movie review". Escape Into Film. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  7. ↑ Mudede, Charles (25 May 2017). "SIFF Review: Bad Black Is a Wakaliwood Masterpiece". The Stranger. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
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