FEBRUARY 13, 2024. 7 PM
UGANDA

The Forbidden (2018)

Directed and Co-Written by Kizito Samuel Saviour

Running Time: 90 minutes

Introduced by Kizito Samuel Saviour

A domestic drama with a powerful cultural message, The Forbidden follows the tragic life of the young Dian (played by Leila Nakabira, an award winning actor, writer, and women’s activist).  Dian is top student in her class with a close group of friends but doesn’t have the financial means to stay in school.  She constantly asks her single mother about her father, hoping he might be able to help her.  Circumstances lead her to work as a maid in the home of a wealthy friend where she finally learns about her father with devastating consequences.  

The Forbidden was produced by Claire Nampala through her own film company, Red Pictures Production, started in 2013.  Red Pictures Production produces educational films about human rights, childhood marriage, domestic violence, AIDS, and other cultural, economic, and political issues in Uganda.  The Forbidden was directed by Kizito Samuel Saviour, an award winning and multi-skilled Ugandan filmmaker.  He established the Kyooto Media Group, a full-service entertainment and media production company in Kampala that also promotes talented young media makers. 

To an American audience, The Forbidden may suggest a connection to the #MeToo movement given that the film was released one year after the movement entered global awareness in 2017 (it trended in over 85 countries).  It’s important to note that the phrase “Me Too” began in 2006, created by social activist Tarana Burke to empower women of color who were sexually abused.  Ms. Nampala notes that sexual harassment is a significant problem in Africa and hopes that this film – based on a true story – contributes to correcting cultural attitudes about sexual abuse.  Ms. Nakabira created the Leilah Nakabira For Charity Foundation to offer resources and support to girls and young women so they could challenge their domestic situations and rigid gender roles. 

The Forbidden also presents the variety of daily life and people in Kampala and includes a culinary motif about a national dish of Uganda, matoke – plantains wrapped and cooked in banana leaves.  Even with the incredible irony of its tragic ending, the film provides an optimistic coda about keeping hope alive, the value of an education, and the importance of governmental support.  As Dian finally says – after all my unbelievable forbidden tragedies, it’s never the end; life goes on.

The Forbidden earned 68 regional and international award nominations, winning 13 top prizes.    

You can watch a trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxJ6pSnPdew

ABOUT:

KIZITO SAMUEL SAVIOUR.. is a multi-award-winning Ugandan filmmaker who in Producing, Writing and Directing, Cinematography and Film Editing.  

He is a film and video tutor at the ESOM School Of Music in Uganda and a Film & Television Studies Mentor at the University of Limpopo in South Africa. 

He has worked as a Director, Writer, Producer, Cinematographer and Editor on films like; MANIA (2022), Your Turn (2022), Catch Out (2021), KEMI (2020), Judas Kiss (2019), The Forbidden (2018), Extra Time (2017) and Bunjako (2016) among others that have earned over 130 international nominations and over 30 international awards from film festivals and film awarding platforms from all-over the world.

He is the founder of the Uganda Academy Selection Committee (UASC) approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' International Feature Film Award Executive Board (The Oscars).

He is also the founder of Kyooto (Kyooto Media Group), a registered multifaceted full-service entertainment and media production company based in Kampala, Uganda that specializes in producing audio-visual content in various dimensions for Film, TV, Online and other platforms as well as using film to rehabilitate and promote talent development.

He has facilitated film directing workshops at The African Film Festival. 
In 2021, he was nominated as Entertainment Founder of the Year at the Kenyan based Founder Of The Year Awards (FOYA) 2021. 
He was invited to speak as a panelist of the discussion "The Conversation: Monetizing Digital Content" at the second Intra-African Trade Fair.
He was among the Evaluators/Judges of the 2022 Netflix - UNESCO African Folktales Reimagined Short Film Competition.

Mr. Saviour  launched a mentor-ship program aimed at nurturing young talents into the skills of Script Writing, Acting and Directing among other departments as a route for them to join the Ugandan Film Industry as experienced and trained individuals.  This continues today.