Call Me Kuchu

It’s been a busy few months, so we think it’s about time for a CALL ME KUCHU update. As many of you already know, the film had its world premiere in February at the Berlin Film Festival, where it picked up two awards! You can read more about it all here. None of this would have been possible without the generosity of our funders, including the 169 folks who chipped in for our Kickstarter campaign to raise $11,000 – so a BIG thank you again and rest assured that your rewards are on their way.

Since then we’ve been working hard to get the film out into the world. We now have a bunch of festivals lined up for the coming months, including the Canadian international documentary film festival Hot Docs, where CALL ME KUCHU will have its North American premiere next week! (Hot Docs screenings times and tickets can be found here). Which leads us to our first ticket giveaway. We’ll be drawing names on Tuesday, so if you’re not in Toronto yourself, spread the word to your Canadian friends!

As for our US and UK premieres – both will take place in June, and we’ll be joined by at least one of the kuchu activists we follow in the film. We can’t quite share the specifics yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we can. One exciting announcement we can share with you: a couple of days before Pride festivities get underway, CALL ME KUCHU will be screening at the legendary Castro Theater in San Francisco as a centerpiece screening at the Frameline Film Festival!

But festivals aren’t the only things keeping us busy. We’ve also been working hard to develop an advocacy strategy that will allow CALL ME KUCHU to be used for high-level lobbying and crucial grassroots work to change the situation for kuchus in Uganda and elsewhere. In April, we were honored to receive a Bertha BRITDOC Connect Fund grant to put towards our outreach campaign. We are also one of ten films that will be discussing potential collaborations with political and religious leaders as well as non-governmental organizations at The Good Pitch Europe, a pitch forum held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London this June. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

In the meantime, you can get regular  updates on CALL ME KUCHU and the issues it explores on Facebook and Twitter, and at our website: www.callmekuchu.com. Details about upcoming screenings and events can be found here. And we’re always keen to hear your thoughts, comments or questions, so let us know what you’re thinking about at callmekuchu@gmail.com.

Thanks, as always, for your support.
As David would say, A Luta Continua!

Malika & Katy
Directors, Call Me Kuchu