As I travelled to Uganda last year, not knowing who I would meet and unprepared for the circumstances I would experience, I felt uneasy without having a specific story for a film. When I arrived, it was clear that almost everyone had a unique story that I felt needed to be told. My safety was in knowing no matter how different someone's life may be from yours there is always a universal human emotion that we can relate to in every story. It is what makes it personal. That is what I found in Monica Latifa, a 23 year old woman from Northern Uganda as we sat together and talked about her life during the 20 year civil conflict in Uganda.
As a documentary film maker I aspire to create personal messages for people through real life story telling. If I am able to capture a story or a moment that could make someone cry, or laugh, or just think, then I have been able to somehow relate an emotion or human quality through film and in that way I feel like I am helping to expose, shape and comfort us human beings in a world that is not so big after all.
