NUFA is the regional home for filmmakers across Acholi, Lango, West Nile and Karamoja — where stories are trained, produced, and honoured on our own stage: the NUFA Awards.
At NUFA, we are passionate about training, platforming and celebrating the filmmakers of Northern Uganda — storytellers who elevate the region's culture and enrich the wider creative economy.
For years, the people making films in Acholi, Lango, West Nile and Karamoja worked the way most creatives in the region did — alone. A camera operator in Gulu had no easy way to find an editor in Lira. A costume designer in Arua had no guild to trade notes with. Talent was never the problem; the region has always had storytellers. What it lacked was a shared roof to work under, and a stage to be seen from.
NUFA — the Northern Uganda Filmmakers Association — was formed to be that roof. It is a registered, filmmaker-led body that brings camera operators, editors, actors, writers, costume and set designers, sound engineers and directors into one regional community, with training, equipment access and professional guilds built around each craft.
A career in film is something a young creative in Northern Uganda can actually build — not just dream about.
That mission carries extra weight in a region that spent decades being written about by outsiders more often than it got to write its own story. Northern Uganda's recovery and resilience are real, lived history — and NUFA's members are increasingly the ones putting that history, and the region's culture, language and everyday life, on screen in their own words. Documentary work made in partnership with cultural institutions like Ker Kwaro Acholi sits alongside music videos, short films and community dramas — all evidence of a place actively authoring its own narrative.
The NUFA Awards are where all of that comes together once a year — a red carpet at Acholi Inn that turns craft most people never see (editing, sound design, production management) into something the whole community can celebrate. Two editions in, with NUFA27 already taking shape, the goal hasn't changed: make Northern Uganda a place where a career in film is not the exception, but the expectation.
An independent platform that celebrates excellence, preserves culture, and positions Northern Uganda as a vibrant hub for film and creative innovation.
To celebrate excellence in filmmaking, preserve Northern Uganda's cultural heritage, and inspire innovation that empowers storytellers and amplifies indigenous voices.
We specialise in transforming raw talent into real careers. Explore the training, guilds and platforms NUFA has built to support every stage of a filmmaker's journey.
Hands-on sessions led by experienced filmmakers, delivered across five districts and counting.
Specialised communities for camera, editing, sound, costume, writing and set design.
Access to gear and production know-how that would otherwise sit out of reach.
Public screenings that open dialogue between filmmakers and the communities they portray.
An annual, growing platform that gives technical and creative excellence its due recognition.
Pushing for the market access and policy support that make film a viable livelihood.
NUFA's reach spans the whole of Northern Uganda — bringing training, equipment access and recognition to creatives well beyond the capital.
Membership, training opportunities and NUFA Awards updates — all in one place.
