Mamdani Says He Wrote a Screenplay About a Ugandan-Born NYer that Failed to Get Off the Ground ‘Even with All the Advantages’ of His Famous Filmmaker Mom

EXCERPT:

REPORTER: "Now tell us about your screenplay."
(Laughter)
MAMDANI: "Oh my God. (Laughs) It will not — "
REPORTER: "Why didn't your mother produce it?"
MAMDANI: "That’s how you know it just — it was that bad. Even with all the advantages, we couldn’t get it off the ground. And it will not shock you, like most — like most initial aspirations of screenplay writers, it was in many ways a mirror of some parts of my own life. And I think that’s what made it so uninteresting. (Laughs) No, it was not. It was about a kid who was born in Uganda and lived in New York City."