"We sneaked out of our country": Uganda's Bobbie Wine speaks on Oscar's red carpet

Guardian Nigeria

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00:00 [no audio]

00:05 [crowd noise]

00:10 [crowd noise]

00:15 [crowd noise]

00:20 Well, the original goal was to...

00:22 It was an opportunity to invite the world into our struggle in Uganda.

00:27 And, you know, it was an effort to try and smuggle the truth out of our country

00:33 because the media could not do that.

00:35 The officially written books could not do that.

00:37 The intellectuals could not do that.

00:39 Only art and film could do this.

00:42 And here we are. We did it.

00:44 The other reason was to encourage young people.

00:47 So we knew that in the long run they would watch the film

00:49 and that the younger people would know that it's possible to fight for your rights and get them.

00:54 So it was to encourage the younger people to fight for what they think is right.

01:00 [crowd noise]

01:05 No, we left in the night on a night flight.

01:09 We literally sneaked out of our country.

01:12 Because we were worried they could stop us from coming.

01:15 So we made sure we got a night flight.

01:17 And then we're here.

01:19 [crowd noise]

01:28 Well, we all know what happened in June 2022

01:30 when the Supreme Court effectively reversed Roe v. Wade.

01:34 And there were many repercussions on many Americans across many states.

01:40 And so we want to tell a story about one of those very human stories.

01:45 The kind of things that you may not think about

01:48 and the kind of people you may not think about telling that story

01:51 and getting the world to understand that maybe our reproductive rights need to be protected

01:55 and our bodily autonomy also needs to be protected.

01:58 So we set out to tell a very character-folding human story in that world.

02:02 [crowd noise]

02:07 I think for me I've gotten some Instagram messages of, you know,

02:11 I was born and raised a certain way and had political views a certain way.

02:16 And this challenged my views on that or turned my perception around.

02:21 That's huge. Just to get people thinking in a different perspective.

02:25 Not necessarily like being didactic in the way of preaching,

02:28 but to just see it from a different lens.

02:30 I think for me, hearing that this is some people's story

02:34 and that they feel seen and heard,

02:37 having the story on the screen that is their own lived experience,

02:41 and feeling really grateful to us for telling that story.

02:45 We just want to honour them and say,

02:47 "Look, we are seeing you and hearing you and we hope this makes a difference."

02:51 But that's been really deeply impactful and meaningful.

02:53 And also conversations that are happening between family members

02:56 who have different views on the subject.

02:58 This film has cracked open a dialogue within families to just see one another.

03:04 So we're really grateful for all of that.

03:07 [crowd noise]

03:12 I have to say that for me it was really moving to see the audience reaction.

03:16 It was powerful and the way the film seemed to resonate

03:21 with their own experiences, talking about the future.

03:25 It's just beautiful. This is the most important thing for us.

03:29 [crowd noise]

03:37 We are doing the Oscars now for 30 years already.

03:41 I mean, he was born 30 years ago.

03:43 He wasn't born when I did the first Oscar.

03:46 Eric started with me just around that time.

03:49 So it's really amazing how it has grown from downtown

03:52 at the Shrine Auditorium to here now.

03:54 So it's getting bigger and bigger.

03:56 Except we don't have more customers.

03:58 We only fit 1,500 people into our dining room.

04:03 [crowd noise]

04:11 And we do different food, like some traditional,

04:15 but we always do like the chicken pot pie, the macaroni and cheese,

04:19 the Miyazaki beef, and the smoked salmon Oscars, the Spargo pizzas,

04:25 our mini burgers. People love them.

04:27 And then we have new things this year like our Peking duck,

04:31 the shin-orak of lamb with mint, cilantro, and vinaigrette.

04:35 We have a paella with seafood.

04:37 We have onion lottie with peas and amazing desserts and everything.

04:42 [crowd noise]

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