Some of the contestants of the African Monologue Challenge. PHOTO/COURTESY
Music and film have been a big part of cultural diplomacy; be it festivals, exchanges, or expos, many countries have for a long time understood the power of culture.
Which is one of the reasons why the Pan African acting competition, the African Monologue Challenge, is such a big deal.
The competition started in Ghana last year; it takes the format of Eurovision, where countries send representatives to compete in music. The winning country gets to host the next edition.
The inaugural edition was held in Ghana, and Ugandan actress Rachel Nduhukire won, thus Uganda became the hosts of the 2024 edition.
The challenge is about young actors camping together and taking on acting tasks that require them to perform monologues. Every week, one of them is eliminated, and at the end of it all, one is declared a winner.
The three-week event has brought together Africans from Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, Cameroon, and Uganda.
According to Nana Tabi, one of the organisers of the challenge, it is meant to change the African narrative but also give a chance for Africans to take charge of their story.
“When you look at all the other places, Hollywood is telling the American story the same way Bollywood is telling the Indian story; who is telling the African story?” he wondered.
The contestants of the African Monologue Challenge have been in Uganda for at least two weeks, and most of them have already started taking up challenges. On Friday, for instance, they performed at the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) before the Africa Image Conference, giving the public a glimpse of what the competition is about.
African Image
But the main issue was the conference about Africa’s image through cinematic representation; one of the main topics was about Hollywood’s stereotype casting of African actors most of the time.
“I always try to have a decency clause in my contract; there are things I will not do; I think all actors need it,” said Noluthando Shandu, the contestant from South Africa.
Nana says that until he visited Uganda, he had no idea the place was what he has since discovered. He says that over the years he has been learning about Uganda from the lens of international media, and yet, through the Monologue Challenge, he has learnt and unlearnt a lot about the country.
“That’s partly what the monologue achieves; today, we have actors from the rest of Africa experiencing Uganda; these are going to become ambassadors of the country because they are talking about their experiences through social media and their audience is watching,” he says.
When the competition opened, Nana says they received more than 5000 entries from the continent and the diaspora. Among those entries was Rachel’s. Then, she was a lead in Pearl Magic Prime’s Sanyu; thus, when the voting kicked off, she received overwhelming support.
“Rachel won both the public and judges’ vote; she’s the reason we are in Uganda for this edition,” Nana says.
Rachel noted that the impact of this challenge has been enormous for her: “I have gotten the opportunity to spread the positive word about Uganda and Africa.”
This year, Uganda is represented by actor Agume Mark. He’s joined by Chimwemwe Chipidza, an actress from Zimbabwe; Chadzanso Mwenda from Zambia; Ghana’s Delove Augustt; Esther Wanjiru from Kenya; Ijeoma Grace Agu from Nigeria; Cameroonian creative Jang Afanyuh Gehnjang; Kelvin Maxwell Ngoma from Malawi; Ivorian Maud Guerard; and Noluthando Shandu from South Africa.
The Africa Monologue Challenge in Uganda is organised by the Office of the President, with the finals expected to be held at Kololo Independence Grounds.