Ihamba film premiere: The Batwa’s journey of loss and resilience in Uganda’s forests

Ihamba, a new film about the Batwa people of Uganda tells their story of loss and resilience, and will have its online premiere on YouTube on 27 May. 

The documentary film traces the enduring bond between the Batwa people and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda. When ihamba — the local word for "forest" — was designated a national park in the early 1990s, the Batwa were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands. They have since endured poverty, marginalization, and violence simply for returning to gather food, medicine, and access sacred sites.

Developed through years of close collaboration with Batwa communities, the film weaves together voices from youth to Elders to put a human face on conservation-driven displacement, and to bear witness to Batwa resilience, memory, and hope for justice.

Following the screening, there will be a live webinar with co-directors and Batwa community members for a behind-the-scenes look at the co-creation process and a deeper conversation about the intersections of Indigenous rights, cultural loss, and conservation. As part of this discussion, Chris Kidd, from FPP, will share some reflections on his work with the Batwa and about human rights and conservation more broadly. 

The eviction of the Batwa people from the forest

FPP has been working with the Batwa people in Uganda since 2000. The Batwa were evicted from their ancestral land to make way for national parks, and FPP are supporting them to have their rights recognised by the state and their lands returned to them.

Widely regarded as the first inhabitants of the forests of south-west Uganda, the Batwa now exist as a minority ethnic group. They experience ongoing erosion of their cultural, spiritual, and social traditions, along with widespread social, political, and economic marginalization.  

In 1991, two Ugandan National Parks were created for the conservation of mountain gorillas, but this resulted in the eviction of the Batwa from their ancestral territories. To date, the revenues and employment opportunities arising from governmental exploitation of protected areas and tourism activities have not benefited the Batwa.

The Batwa’s customary rights to land have not been recognized in Uganda and they have received little or no compensation for their losses, resulting in a situation where almost half of Batwa remain landless and virtually all live in absolute poverty. 

 In 2000, the Batwa formed their own organisation, United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU) governed by a board drawn exclusively from members of the Batwa people.

 FPP has been working in solidarity with UOBDU ever since then, primarily in support of Batwa efforts to address their exclusion from their ancestral lands from which they were evicted to make way for the Bwindi, Mgahinga and Echuya conservation areas.

Many of the faces of the Batwa in Ihamba are familiar to FPP and we celebrate their resilience and strength in their continued struggle to secure the rights to their forests.  But, more than that, Ihamba stands as a testament to the humour and humility that the Batwa maintain in the face of their situation and the human rights violations they experience every day.

The film premiere will take place online on Wednesday, May 27 at 12:00pm EDT / 17:00 BST. Please register here for the premiere Eventbrite page. To learn more visit www.ihambaproject.com or follow the Instagram account @ihambafilm