The Woman Who Poked the Leopard
Patience Nitumwesiga
Stella Nyanzi is a feminist activist, anthropologist and poet who uses “radical rudeness” to provoke politically. She is being persecuted and imprisoned for a vulgar poem criticising the Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni and the state repression and militarism in her home country.
Upon her return, Nyanzi herself aspires to a career in politics. During the election campaign, she rallies like-minded people, voices radical views and resorts to civil disobedience, without ever allowing herself to be intimidated. The Woman Who Poked the Leopard depicts Nyanzi’s struggle against a regime that intimidates its opponents, violently suppresses protests and stops at nothing to achieve its objectives.
Handheld cameras follow Nyanzi, both during her political work and in intimate moments with her family. The result is a vibrant portrait of a mother and poet who fights fearlessly, vocally and always with hope for a better future.
Director Patience Nitumwesiga was awarded the DEFA Foundation Prize at the 68th edition of DOK Leipzig.
30 April 2026
20:15 h, Kino des DFF
More information
| Direction | Patience Nitumwesiga |
| Country | Uganda, South-Africa, Germany, USA |
| Production year | 2025 |
| Duration | 107 min |
| Language | English, Luganda |
| Language Version | OV with English Subs |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Production | Rosie Motene, Phil Wilmot, Patience Nitumwesiga |
| Production company | Parabellum Films |
| Co-production | Natalia Imaz, Menzi Mhlongo |
| Director of Photography | Racheal Mambo, Phil Wilmot |
| Montage | Kristen van Schie |
| Sound | Penelope Najuna, Carla Walsh |
| Music | Sylvia Babirye |
| Sound Design | Sean Peevers |
DOK Leipzig 2025, Preis der DEFA-Stiftung
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About the director
Patience Nitumwesiga is a feminist and Afrofuturist filmmaker, theatre maker, educator and artist. In addition to her work on short films, web series, mixed-media art and plays, she has made her feature-length documentary debut with The Woman Who Poked The Leopard. Nitumwesiga’s company, Shagika, is currently producing four feature films as well as several short films and artistic projects, including the podcast Mbaganire, which is dedicated to African folk tales.
Press reviews
"We were deeply moved by this fearless cinematic portrait of an activist who wields a whole range of powerful gestures and methods of peaceful resistance and collective solidarity. Rooted in the finest tradition of Direct Cinema, the filmmaker shares the risks, dangers and pain of this struggle as she accompanies her protagonist through years of resistance and ultimately into exile in Germany. The film positions the documentary at the crossroads between activism and intimacy, thereby highlighting how the political struggle seeps into private life and extends to the children, who gradually begin to demand their right to love, care and change. In moments of fiery poetic resistance, this film becomes an unmistakable voice for demands against injustice and corruption, confronting tyranny with truth and reclaiming the voice of a generation that refuses to be silenced.” (Jury DOK Leipzig 2025)
In attendance of the director and the protagonist
International Feature Film Program
