A Dog Story is a Ugandan short film about Atim, a young woman who tries to escape from her abductor Bongwat and comes face to face with the reality of what it means to be an abductee, and the consequences of requiting his love. It was produced by actress and dental assistant Doreen Mirembe as her debut production.[1]

A Dog Story
Official poster
Directed byDavidson Mugume
Screenplay byDoreen Mirembe
Produced byDoreen Mirembe
Starring
CinematographyDoreen Mirembe
Edited byMonica Mugo
Music byMonica Mugo
Production
company
Amani House
Distributed byAmani House
Release date
  • June 2015 (2015-06) (Kampala Festival)
Running time
19 minutes
CountryUganda
LanguageEnglish

Production

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A Dog Story is Doreen Mirembe’s debut production which she developed in 2013 while still deep in the acting world but by that time she wasn’t well equipped enough to produce the story herself. She wrote the idea on paper but couldn’t write the script. By late 2014, she had gotten close to some filmmakers she could trust enough to tell her story, she got in touch with Luswata Musa (a script writer) to teach and guide her about story, script and screenplay writing so as she could write her story. In 2015, she had pitched the story to a few who welcomed the project and aimed at getting it all produced on the budget of five million shillings that she had by at the time. In January 2015, the final date of shooting was set to 27th, and all shooting took place in Gayaza at Doreen Mirembe’s family home.[2]

Reception

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The film got a very wide and good reception worldwide. It was screened and nominated at the Kampala Festival,[3] Africa International Film Festival, Silicon Valley African Film Festival,[4] Uganda Film Festival,[5] Afro Film Festival (ANANSE), Slum Film Festival for the Best Short Film and Pearl International Film Festival for the Best screenplay. The film also won two awards at the Pearl International Film Festival for Best Actor (Michael Wawuyo Jr. and Best Actress (Doreen Mirembe).

Casting

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Doreen Mirembe cast herself in the lead role as Atim because she couldn’t trust anyone else satisfying the role the way she felt it as she wrote the story. The lead male role that had been cast didn’t turn up on the first day of shoot and Michael Wawuyo Jr. was immediately called on set to take the character of Bongwat. He had to read, understand and execute the story in just a few hours to the shoot ZziwaJaubarl and OpioOpolot were cast in supporting roles.

Cast

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Awards and nominations

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Awards
Year Award Category Result Recipient
2017 Slum Film Festival Best Short Film Nominated
Silicon Valley African Film Festival Best Short Film Nominated
2016 Pearl International Film Festival[6] Best Female Actor in a Short Film Won Doreen Mirembe
Best Male Actor in a Short Film Won Michael Wawuyo Jr.
Best Screenplay Nominated
Africa International Film Festival Best Short Film Nominated
Uganda Film Festival Best Short Film Nominated
Afro Film Festival (ANANSE) Best Short Film Nominated

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "A DOG STORY by Doreen Mirembe". Jwplatform.
  2. ^ "Production journey of "A dog story" (A Doreen Mirembe film)". Cinema Red Pill. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Short films make mark at 2015 Kampala festival". Daily Monitor. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Narrative - Short : A Dog Story". Silicon Valley African Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  5. ^ "UCC releases list of the 2015 Uganda Film Festival nominees". Eagle. Eagle. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  6. ^ "PEARL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (P.I.F.F) 2016 NOMINATIONS LIST". PEARL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
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