Takesue feature-length Ugandan documentary to have New York City premiere Feb. 19

Kimi Takesue, assistant professor of film in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Department of Transmedia, will have her feature-length Ugandan documentary “Where Are You Taking Me?” have its New York City premiere Saturday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m. at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 11 West 53rd St. Takesue will introduce and discuss the 72-minute film, which is being presented as part of MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight 2011.

MoMA will also show the film on Sunday, Feb. 20, at 2:30 p.m.

“Where Are You Taking Me?” had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and North American premiere in the documentary competition at the Los Angeles Film Festival, where it was a Critics’ Pick by LA Weekly. Takesue was also recently awarded a grant by the New York State Council on the Arts for the distribution of the film, which was described by Variety as “Beautifully meditative … an uplifting observational documentary that plays on seeing and being seen.”

Employing an observational style, the contemplative documentary “Where Are You Taking Me?”reveals multifaceted portraits of Ugandans in both public and private spaces. The film travels through Uganda, roaming the vibrant streets of Kampala and the rural quiet of the North, to reveal a diverse society where global popular culture finds expression alongside enduring Ugandan traditions.

Throughout the journey, “Where Are You Taking Me?” asks us to consider the complex interplay between the observer and the observed and challenges our notions of both the familiar and exotic. “Where Are You Taking Me?” offers unexpected images of a complex country, encouraging us to abandon pre-conceived notions of where we are going and what we will find.