Bad Black

Bad Black is a 2016 Ugandan action-comedy film written, produced, and directed by Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey Nabwana (IGG), by Wakaliwood, an ultra low-budget studio in Kampala, Uganda.
Plot
A man named Swaaz, shortened for Schwarzenegger, robs a bank and gets chased by police. He orders his child assistant, Buddy Spencer, to jump from the car with the money as he leads police elsewhere. After being chased for some time, Swaaz is eventually trapped and is killed when he accidentally shoots his car, causing it to explode.
In the slums of Kampala, Uganda, a young girl runs away from home and ends up in a child trafficking ring led by a former Uganda People's Defence Force commando in the ghetto. One day, while collecting metal scraps, she is viciously assaulted by multi-millionaire Hirigi when she mistakenly takes the tire iron of his van. After enduring weeks of abuse and witnessing other children being murdered in cold blood, the girl takes matters into her own hands and kills the ring leader.
Ten years later, the girl has grown up to become "Bad Black", and the ghetto children have become the biggest crime syndicate in Kampala with Black as the leader. She seduces Hirigi in a bar to exact her revenge on him. Meanwhile, Alan Ssali, an American doctor whose whole family were U.S. Army commandos, is in Kampala giving aid to the people of the slums. He encounters Bad Black, who mistakes him for a commando due to his designer dog tags. After receiving Alan's business card, Bad Black sneaks into his hotel and steals his money and passport. When the police refuse to help him, Alan receives kung fu commando training from his young assistant "Wesley Snipes" before storming through the slums to look for Bad Black.
Hirigi's teenage son, Kenny, is banished by his father and goes to Black's gang in search for drugs. Hirigi tells Black about his plans to buy the ghetto and throw the gang out. Black brings Hirigi to her grandma where it is revealed that Hirigi is Black's grandfather and that he has been dating a ghetto woman. Hirigi threatens Black by throwing her out and runs away disgusted.
One day, a drug deal between Bad Black and a rival syndicate is disrupted by Kampala Police forces. The gangsters frantically run away from the cops, only to be gunned down by Alan, who corners Bad Black and recovers his dog tags before handing her to the police. At the prison, Black meets a fellow female inmate named Flavia who claims that her rich father banished her and that she never got to see her own child after birth before being taken to prison. Later that night, Kenny and the syndicate attempt to break Black out. The following riot allows two other women to escape but Black stays with
Flavia to comfort her as she is set to be released in two days. Days later, Flavia is released and is present at Black's trial. Black explains that her father was Swaaz and that he robbed the bank to pay for the expenses of her birth but also claims that her mother was killed during the birth. It is then revealed that Flavia is Black's mother and the two hug as the court is adjourned.
Three months later, Alan resumes his medical mission in Wakaliga, but with Bad Black as his nurse. Hirigi's wife suddenly appears and opens fire at the medical camp, killing Alan in the process.
Cast
Nalwanga Gloria as Bad Black
Kirabo Beatrice as young Bad Black
Alan Ssali Hofmanis as Doctor Alan Ssali
Bisaso Dauda as Hirigi
Nakaye Janati as Mukyala Hiriji
Kasule Rolean as Wesley Snipes
Ssebankyaye Mohammed as Swaz
Mugisha Henry as Buddy Spencer
Nabatanzi Hawah as Flavia
Nakatudde Madinah as young Flavia
Kabuye John as Chairman
Nattembo Racheal as Racheal
Okello Joseph as Cobra
Namatovu Annet as Maama Black
Muhumuza as the Judge
VJ Emmie as the voice of Video Joker
Release and reception
Bad Black had its world premiere at the 2016 Fantastic Fest, where it won the Audience Award and Nabwana IGG won the Best Director award for Action Features.
The film was released alongside Who Killed Captain Alex? in the Wakaliwood Supa Action Vol. 1 Blu-ray/DVD combo by the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) on 14 May 2019. The Blu-ray release features the option to watch Who Killed Captain Alex? with or without the VJ Emmie narration, plus subtitles in 40 languages, and welcome videos by Nabwana IGG for 14 countries.
Much like Who Killed Captain Alex?, Bad Black was generally received well by critics and audiences alike. Richard Kuipers of Variety called the film "A no-budget brew of comedy, action and wisecracking voiceover narration by self-taught Ugandan filmmaker Nabwana I.G.G."
Bad Black was a critical and audience favorite at the 2017 Seattle International Film Festival. The film earned an encore presentation on the last day of the festival, making the total number of screenings four. The Seattle audience question and answer session with the director was on Skype.
References
External links
2016 films
2016 martial arts films
2010s martial arts comedy films
English-language Ugandan films
Films about drugs
Films about human trafficking
Films about orphans
Films about poverty
Films about revenge
Films set in Uganda
Films set in prison
Films shot in Uganda
Kung fu films
2016 comedy films
2010s English-language films