Naseeba Bagalaaliwo is an emerging producer from Uganda, who enjoys taking on new challenges, producing both live-action and animation. Before turning to film she graduated from Durham University in the UK with a degree in Law and Politics. She is an alumna of the Africa Kommt! Fellowship for Young Leaders from sub-Saharan Africa and spent her fellowship working with the Robert Bosch Stiftung in Stuttgart supporting the design and implementation of the Film Pro Series – a project to develop and enhance film competencies in East Africa. She is a recipient of the Small Projects Cultural Grant awarded by the Goethe Zentrum in Uganda and in 2020 used the grant to successfully produce “Scalp Deep” her first film and an award-winning animated short. Initially intended as a documentary film, the COVID-19 crisis caused a rethink of the project idea and the new iteration of “Scalp Deep” as an animation emerged. The resulting short was made as a solo project during quarantine using entirely free software and creative commons licensed assets to test the ingenuity and viability of low-budget filmmaking.
Her short has screened at festivals worldwide including the Festival of Animation Berlin, Kaboom Animation Festival, the Paris International Animation Festival, UC Davis Feminist Film Festival, Tricky Women/Tricky Realities Festival, Animakom, Afrika Film Festival Köln, Silicon Valley Afriocan Short Film Festival, Sheffield Short Film Festival, Quibdo African Film Festival, African Smart phone International Film Festival, Ngalabi Short Film Festival, and the Zeitimpulse Festival where it received the Open Jury Award. In 2021 her augmented reality illustration work was featured in Animated Women’s Female Animator Self-portrait Exhibition as part of a series of street posters designed by female artists in Amsterdam.
Naseeba’s work in film, television, and new media has been informed by a passionate belief that film can be a powerful impetus for social justice. Most recently she has used her experience in cultural programming and media as a curriculum designer for Ava DuVernay’s company, ARRAY 101 to create relevant and engaging curricula around film and television, amplifying the storytelling power of film to educate. She is currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Southern California and working on her first animated feature film project. Inspired by art, politics, people, and culture she hopes to use her degree to continue producing female-focused content with diverse creators that is dedicated to uplifting and honoring the legacies we come from through creative storytelling.
