God Loves Uganda, from Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams, covers the continuing efforts by evangelical Christians to mold Uganda to their vision of a fundamentalist Christian society. Perhaps the most notable of these efforts was the introduction of a bill that would allow the death penalty to be imposed for acts related to homosexuality.
“I thought about following the activists-brave and admirable men and women-who were fighting against these policies. But I was more curious about the people who, in effect, wanted to kill me,” said Williams, who is gay. “Notably, almost every evangelical I met – American or Ugandan – was polite, agreeable, even charming. Yet I knew that if the bill passed, there would be blood on the streets of Kampala [the capital].”
Using interviews and hidden camera footage, God Loves Uganda is a story that connects the fundamentalist Christians in the U.S. and their Ugandan counterparts. It includes an interview with gay activist David Kato shortly before he was murdered and the story Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, a Ugandan minister who was excommunicated and ostracized advocating a campaign for peace.
The production was funded by the Ford Foundation, Sundance Institute, and Open Society Foundations, and premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival. More information, including clips and interviews, can be found at godlovesuganda.com.
God Loves Uganda opens Oct. 11, 2013 in New York City, and will also be shown in theaters across the U.S. and Canada throughout the fall and into early 2014.