An Inspired Chat with Lubeera Saphina of Uganda (kampala)

We recently had the chance to connect with Lubeera Saphina and have shared our conversation below.

Lubeera , it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Have you stood up for someone when it cost you something?
Yes, recently a young girl I am mentoring got beaten up by a police officer who is a male. She came up to me crying and went to police station, made a few calls to get some help because my mum knows a few people in higher places, I told her to use my mum as hers and yeah it worked out.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Lubeera saphina also known as Sweetlah. I am a filmmaker more into writing and directing . I also do content creation for freelance as well as dancing.
I do like telling stories that are home(closer to me) so you better be careful when telling me about yourself, you could end up seeing your life in a movie 😂😂😂.
I strongly believe I got the love for art from my mother because as a young woman she used to be a local actress in the ghetto back in the days.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Oh my, I was a musician busy singing my raga dancehall songs. I career I loved soooooo much that it brought joy to my soul every time I listened to the song I wrote for myself and how they turned out. It was beautiful but then being a girl in the industry is hard as ever man wants a piece of you just to promote your music and I couldn’t sell my body for that so I decided to leave it all behind and embarked on studying the film thing and yeah now I am pursuing that. The world really taught me a hard one on that and at least with film I have freedom for creation .

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear for failure and never making it in life. I feel like this had led me into giving up on some big opportunities with the thought of “I will be rejected” or ” “I won’t be selected” so I end up not trying at all. But I am working on that now.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
So theirs a project about child marriage I’ve been writing about since COVID hit. The script is finalized but I keep on revising it and editing a few scenes every.time I hear a different child marriage story until the the day I will have finds enough to shoot it. Someone may ask why it’s taking my long to shoot and I would answer “funds, funds, funds”. It’s not one of those projects I would want to just shoot , I want it perfect with the right crew and cast as the story carries voices if many people including mothers as well. So any time , any day, I will finish it.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Definitely, I constantly do this most of the times and just sit and watch the glorious outcomes in silence. I have helped someone win a grant and never got praised for it, I have taught people a few things (dance, act, write) and never got praised for it. But still I enjoyed and still enjoy doing it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DH_nxcigBq6/?igsh=aDk2cXMyaG9pcXJi
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kasweetlah?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sweetlahriddim?si=TXEBf7EhhSQnbDc9