"New York Minute" meets Uganda

Wow. Things have been really picking up here. I feel like I am uncontrollably spinning past, (and often biking past) the town in an uptempoed pace, as the town unfazed, continues in its methodical sluggishness. This dichotomy between cultural pace became radically enhanced last week when New York expectations worked alongside Ugandan lifestyle. And it made last week the most interesting and hilarious week since I have been here. Fall Out Boy, (a popular band amongst the IC demographic) came to Gulu to shoot a music video for their newest single release, "Me and You".
Following them came a full production crew- Producer- (a woman who's entire job is to get things done efficiently and under budget, arriving to Gulu from NYC with no knowledge or respect for Gulu's history), Director- Alan Ferguson- (a tremendous African American filmmaker and honorable artist), Assistant Director- (a hilariously sarcastic and profane African American who flew straight from LA, with the background of yelling on set to get results), Director of Photography- (an African American hipster, with a huge 'fro of salt and pepper- an iconic figure who shot beautiful film,he has worked with the Industry's best- Kubrick, Spike Lee, etc), Camera Assistant- (the most amazingly compassionate woman and true professional- having started with early 90s hip hop videos, she is now working with the best artists), an entire Kenyan lighting and grip crew (packaged with a feisty Kenyan woman who yelled at people constantly), and the Record Label execs(Island/Def Jam- the woman flying in, toting Prada in the IDP camps,and commenting that her parents wanted her to bring back "cheap diamonds")....and so the week began.
It was humorous, pathetic and everything in between. Pathetic- to see the Producer flaunting Ugandan money around the IDP camps, rubbing them in the dirt to get an "old look" when using them as props. She became huffy and offended when I told her she couldn't do that in camps where the people are living on less than 2 dollars a day. Hilarious- to see the filmmakers' faces of shock, as the Mutatu (falling apart, balled-tired Ugandan Van) made a sudden turn in the wrong direction of a shoot location, because the driver had to pick up his cell phone charging at a gas station. Hilarious to realize that these well-paid filmmakers hardly remembered they weren't in LA, asking Walter (the IDP camp leader), "Are you going to be "on Set" with us today?"...Baffled, he said yes. In his mind you could see him working through the question, "You mean, am I going to be hanging around today in my own home, an IDP camp that has kept thousands of people stuck for 10 years...uhh, yeah, I'll be here."

The driver, a Ugandan named David, served as the most humorous example of this totally warped and zany week. He had NO IDEA what he was getting himself into when recruited from the buspark to drive some Americans around for a week. As the days passed, he became the bane of these professional moviemakers' existence, unabiding and unaware of any codes of conduct expected of the unionized production drivers in the States.
Throughout the week, David remained unfazed by the stress and pressure that these Productions require. After 9 scoldings to "never leave the van because We are making split-second decisions and will have to jump in the van if the Director has an artistic vision", on the 10th time, David would park the van, and walk off to smoke a cigarette, or visit a friend.
After the Producer scolding David to go slow through the dirt roads, because his van was loaded with over 400,000 dollars of equipment, he would get stuck in the mud, leaving the Dreamland Director, A-wal Assistant Director, and Prada Producer to stand behind the van and push, for sake of not losing the perfect lighting for the next shot.
By the end of the week, it was not David who was changed according to the New York invasion, as expected in this situation. In fact, his "could care less" attitude forced the New Yorkers' "my way or the highway" attitude to adjust for probably the first time in their lives. In the end, David the driver found himself standing in front of the camera, playing both the shopkeeper and soldier in this incredible Hollywood production.
In the end, the final product looks beautiful. The video, due in September will be visually and artistically compelling,and should serve Invisible Children well, as a means to really continue exposing Americans to the drastic situation here. As well, rest assured that the IC staff ensured it was done with the utmost consideration for the people (with occasional damage control. On top of that, it was an incredible experience working with this crew who became our friends in the hilarity of the week's most unbelievable antics. Meanwhile, I am working on a short story perfectly appropriate for (what better publication...) The New Yorker.