Action! Documentary Double Feature

This documentary double feature offers a rare look behind the scenes at the DIY studios of two enterprising filmmakers, one in Uganda and the other in Tunisia— each of them putting their own wild spin on 1980s-style action flicks. Once Upon a Time in Uganda! (2021) introduces us to writer-director Isaac Nabwana, the driving force behind Wakaliga Uganda, and tracks his unlikely partnership with Alan “Ssali” Hofmanis, an American producer and super-fan who moved to Kampala to join him. In VHS – Kahloucha (2006), documentarian Nejib Belkadhi trails amateur Tunisian filmmaker Moncef Kahloucha as he makes his latest feature, Tarzan of the Arabs, with the help of the people around him.