Using Creativity to Make Live Meaningful at the Refugees Camp

Bazande Pictures Media is a film company that was set up by myself with the major purpose of visualizing stories affecting refugees in the settlement. Through Bazande Pictures Media we have been able to influence members of our community who live in the diaspora to support the vulnerable communities living in the camp.

Bazande Pictures Media engages a lot of youth by organizing film boot camps and photography boot camps where youth that have an inspiration for being great photographers and Cinematographers are taught with basics of photography and videography. We do shoot short movies based on stories affecting the communities and we also do shoot music videos.

We are in the process of getting fully registered with the government of Uganda so that we can have full legal rights to operate across the country. Bazande Pictures Media was established in 2018.

I am a cultural Ambassador and I love my culture a lot. I realized that through media arts it would be easy to market the tradition, norms, and culture of the Azande people hence the motivation to start the Bazande Pictures Media.

Bazande Pictures is a filming company aimed at bridging the gap among youth with talents in media arts. We are destined to create visuals that inspire generations and sell out our culture through the arts to the outside world. Bazande Pictures Media is a platform where both legendary Azande Musicians and upcoming artists have a stepping stone to the world of videos. We have so far produced music videos to many musicians both in Uganda and in South Sudan.

Bazande pictures group comprises of manager Dr. Richard Aquila Nara who's a political analyst and a student at Nkumba University pursuing Bachelors's in Public Administration. We have a finance officer and other key members of the company who totals up to eight individuals.

As Bazande Pictures Media we film lives of refugees in the settlement and challenges faced by the refugee community. This has helped expose the key issues faced by refugees hence has created an impact. Through our documentaries, we have managed to capture the attention of certain charitable individuals who have immensely helped the refugees at Kiryandongo Refugees Settlement.

We organize film boot camps where youth with visions of being future film directors are taken through the basics of cinematography and photography and this has helped many youths both in the host community and the refugees.

The major challenges we are facing include luck of serious and professional equipment for instance aerial drone cameras and professional Cinema Cameras. We also lack equipment for both production and post-production such as PC.

We plan to set up one of the biggest media and film companies in South Sudan and Africa at large. We dream to open up our TV

station one day in South Sudan where we can be able to market our movies and also help other upcoming film companies in branding and marketing.

As the Director of Bazande Pictures Media, I intend to see changes in media operations in South Sudan. I have plans to open up a film shooting zone in Yambio at Bodo a suburb which is nine miles along Maridi Highway in western Equatoria.

As a refugee who has been in the settlement for 4 years, I plan to educate nations about the history of South Sudan and how it feels to be a refugee. I am a human rights activist fighting hard to see peace and stability in my country. I currently work for Y-Global international organization as a coordinator of economic empowerment to see peace and stability among the traumatized refugees in Kiryandongo.

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By Alfred Zebruna Mandes - Director Bazande PICTURES Media