Sightlines · reception

How Bad Black was received

2016 · Nabwana IGG · Bad Black on Sightlines

The arc

It premiered at Fantastic Fest 2016 as a curiosity from a Ugandan slum studio and walked out with the Audience Award — since then it's gone from festival in-joke to the beloved gateway drug of Wakaliwood, mentioned in the same breath as Who Killed Captain Alex.

What’s debated

The perennial debate: is the Western love for Wakaliwood a genuine celebration of pure DIY filmmaking joy, or a condescending 'so bad it's good' safari — and Bad Black is usually Exhibit A that it's the former.

Its footprint

VJ Emmie's nonstop hype-man commentary track — shouting over the movie like a one-man crowd — is the thing everyone quotes and imitates; 'Supa Kommando' entered the vocabulary of everyone who's seen it.

Where it stands

A certified Letterboxd cult darling and the crown jewel of the no-budget canon — the 'you have to see this' recommendation for anyone who thinks money makes movies.

Did you know? It was made in the Wakaliga slum of Kampala for roughly $200 — and that micro-budget movie went on to beat everything else at Fantastic Fest 2016 for the Audience Award.

Named by the director

• Chuck Norris — Nabwana has repeatedly said he grew up on his older brother's retellings of Chuck Norris movies, which fired his obsession with action cinema.
• Bruce Lee — Cited by Nabwana as a childhood hero whose kung fu films shaped the fight-heavy Wakaliwood style.