The Bridge

Directed by: Shemei Agabo

Stage:
- Development
Location:
- Uganda
Updated: September 30, 2026
Project Type:
- Feature
Project Style:
- Biographical,
- Observational
Theme Subject:

Logline

John, a dancer, is trying to stage a stand-alone performance that finally lets his family, colleagues, and community see him as the dancer and the man he's always been even as the partner he longs for stays just out of reach.

Clips

The Bridge | John

Synopsis

...

In Kampala, Uganda, John Munialo Fredrick is known by the family who raised him, by colleagues at the chocolate factory where he works mainly through his disability. What almost none of them have seen is the dancer.

The Bridge follows John's pursuit of a stand alone performance, staged entirely on his own terms, that would finally let the people in his life see him as an artist rather than someone living with disability. Trained for years by Desire, a mentor who works with dancers living with disability across Kampala, and rehearsing and performing alongside fellow dancer Peter, John is chasing a stage that has been blocked by funding, venue access, and staging a a show with almost no resources.

Running beneath that public quest is John's search for a partner to share his life with. Dance has given him discipline, community, and a measure of pride but not, so far, love.

Get In Touch

Stills

Team

Shemei Agabo

Director

Team

Shemei Agabo

Director

Shemei Agabo is a Ugandan documentary filmmaker and multimedia storyteller with a knack for telling human interest stories. While documentary film is his main forte, shemei believes in the power of storytelling to address the political, economic, and social ills. At the heart of his storytelling is a commitment to dismantling the 'NGO-lised' portrayals of Africa; stories that flatten complexity or centre pity in favour of nuanced, restorative narratives that honour dignity, agency, and the fullness of the African experience. Shemei is the recipient of the Impact Innovation Prize at Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya, where he graduated with honors in Digital Journalism. He was also awarded a prestigious climate change documentary grant from the French Embassy in Uganda. His body of work, including '1911' and 'Walugembe', has been recognised at the Uganda National Film Festival for its thoughtful storytelling and strong narrative voice. His award-winning documentary 'A Dying Culture' (2024 Covering Climate Now Journalism Award) gained international recognition for its experimental and immersive execution, weaving local symbolism and traditional soundscapes into cinematic explorations of climate and culture. Shemei is an emerging visionary voice within East Africa’s media landscape. He is laying the groundwork for Uganda’s first non-fiction social storytelling platform, a space dedicated to nurturing a new generation of documentary filmmakers and helping them reclaim creative ownership of their stories. Shemei brings a calm, observant eye to every project, with a deep respect for people’s lived experiences. He is currently focused on mastering impact strategy and building a sustainable ecosystem for African nonfiction through the dream of founding Uganda’s first dedicated documentary film festival, a home for nonfiction stories that are restorative and unapologetically African.

Close
Joan Njeri

Producer

Team

Joan Njeri

Producer

Joan Njeri is a Nairobi-based producer whose credits include Run Mary Run (2023, Multichoice) and The Good Child (2021). She is an alumna of One World Media, EFM Doc-ToolBox, and IDFAcademy

Close

Background

...

The Bridge began not with John, but with his trainer, Desire a mentor who works with dancers living with disability across Kampala, and who I first set out to document. Following Desire's work led me to John, and it became clear over time that his story a man fighting to be seen as an artist rather than a disability was the one that needed to be told in full.

I've known John for 4 years. Filming has happened in phases across that time building trust, learning when to bring a camera and when not to, and slowly gaining access. We are now moving from that development period into sustained, consistent production, with a deliberate shift in approach way from interview-heavy footage that has people talking about John, and toward observational, verité coverage of him actually living his life.

This story is relevant now because disability representation in nonfiction film still defaults to one of two modes which is pity, or inspiration for-its-own-sake. Neither leaves room for a person's ambition, their romantic life, their unresolved wanting. John's story refuses both defaults and John is seeking a stage, and a partner.

Our production plan centers on capturing the milestones John is actively working toward: his continued training with Desire, his rehearsals with fellow dancer Peter, and his pursuit of the funding, venue access, and collaborators needed to stage his own show. We're also following, in parallel, his personal life friendships, community, and his search for partnership material that requires the kind of trust that can only be built over years, not weeks.

Our target audience spans two overlapping communities first, Ugandan and East African audiences, particularly within disability advocacy spaces and the arts community in Kampala; second, international documentary audiences drawn to character-driven, observational nonfiction that resists easy categorisation. We see this film speaking to festivals and platforms invested in African storytelling, disability representation, and intimate character portraiture.

Get In Touch

Participants

John Munialo Fredrick

Film Subject

Participant

John Munialo Fredrick

Film Subject

John is a dancer and factory worker at Equator Chocolate Company in Kampala, determined to be seen as an artist, a friend, a partner not only through the disability that has defined how his family, colleagues, and community see him. His present day pursuit of a stand-alone performance, and his unresolved search for a life partner, anchor the film

Close
Desire Kenneth Tereka

Trainer / Mentor

Participant

Desire Kenneth Tereka

Trainer / Mentor

Desire is the trainer who discovered John and has trained him ever since. Working with dancers living with disability across Kampala, Desire remains central to John's journey still in his corner, still preparing him as he builds toward his own show.

Close
Peter

Partner/Collaborator

Participant

Peter

Partner/Collaborator

Peter is an abled dancer who trains alongside John at the National Theatre, part of the small circle of collaborators John hopes to bring into his stand-alone performance.

Close

Style & Tone

...

The Bridge is built on access earned over years and Its visual language is observational and verite

At the center of the film is a question wearing two faces will John be fully seen, and fully chosen? The public face of that question is the stage he is fighting to build for himself, against real obstacles: no funding, no venue of his own, a theatre booked out for seasons at a time, a dependence on his mentor Desire's platform rather than a show that belongs entirely to him. The private face of that same question is his search for a partner, and whatever specifically stands in the way of it, which we are still learning directly from him.

Tonally, we are deliberately resisting the two defaults disability documentaries default to pity, and inspiration-for-its-own-sake. There is no score underlining struggle for effect, no framing that asks the audience to feel sorry for John. Dance carries the emotion of the film. We want audiences to feel what it is to witness someone at eye level, in the specific and unfinished texture of a life that is still, actively, being decided.

Get In Touch

Budget

This section includes information about this project.

Screenplay impact story independent director production doc producer festival independent. Impact journey award film project award cinema visual director film camera screenplay.

Grants & Awards

2026 Kuonyesha Art Fund-Selected (11,000,000 UGX or 3,270 USD)
2026 Filmmaker's Contribution (2,500 USD)

Our Ask

For four years of building trust with John are now translating into sustained, deeper production, and we are seeking funding to move from development to complete principal photography around John's pursuit of his own stand-alone performance and the personal search that runs alongside it. Alongside funding, were seeking story consultancy and mentorship to help us build the feature structure around the film's central question will John be fully seen, and fully chosen? and to shift the cut fully from journalistic toward observational.

Were also looking for partners and funders aligned with disability representation and African nonfiction storytelling, and guidance on positioning this film for the international market.

John's own pursuit of his stage is happening in real time. The access we have took years to build and cannot be recreated later. Support now means capturing this story as it is actually unfolding, rather than reconstructing it after the fact.

We are seeking:

Funding,
International Co-Production,
In Kind Partnerships

Get In Touch

Are you an Industry Professional?
Log in or create an Industry Account to view, search, and bookmark Project Pages.

The Bridge

Logline

Clips

Stills

Team

Shemei Agabo

Shemei Agabo

Joan Njeri

Joan Njeri

Participants

John Munialo Fredrick

John Munialo Fredrick

Desire Kenneth Tereka

Desire Kenneth Tereka

Peter

Peter

Budget

Grants & Awards

Our Ask