A Ugandan animated short film by Maria Byoma
6 minutes | Animation | Uganda
THE FILM
HOLIDAY COUNTDOWN, HOSTEL CHAOS
The holidays are almost here, and Babura has one simple plan: make it through the final day at Kikomera Girls’ Hostel in peace.
There’s just one problem. Her best friend Njuki has a special talent for attracting chaos.
In Lice N’ Shine, an ordinary morning at the hostel quickly spirals into familiar mayhem as the girls go about their routines, navigate the day and find themselves caught up in the kind of trouble that never seems too far away.
Set in the lively world of boarding school life, this six-minute animated comedy turns familiar rituals and everyday mishaps into an affectionate portrait of teenage girlhood. It’s the friendships, the routines and the small disasters that somehow become the stories everyone remembers.
BUILDING THE KIKOMERA UNIVERSE
For Maria, Kikomera Girls’ Hostel is more than the setting for one short film. As the characters and their world developed, the universe began finding its way into Maria’s Inktober 2025 posts, creating space to explore how audiences responded to the girls and their everyday adventures.
Now, Maria is developing Kikomera into an extended series, with hopes of releasing new material as early as 2027.
Lice N’ Shine is a glimpse into that world one where the smallest incidents can cause the biggest commotion, and where there's always another story waiting to unfold.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Sometimes, an idea starts with a competition theme — and a very practical question: what can you make with the time you have?
For Maria Byoma, Lice N’ Shine began with an open call for the 2025 Tiny Man Short Animation Competition, themed “Bugs.” Looking for an idea that would be relatively simple to execute, Maria landed on lice and naturally gravitated towards a school setting, where an outbreak could quickly become the centre of everyone's attention.
But the first version of the story was more ambitious than the competition timeline allowed. Maria set it aside, submitted a shorter story about ants instead, and returned to the world of Lice N’ Shine the following year.
That extra time became an opportunity to develop the characters and environment more fully. In March 2026, after more than a year of preparation, the idea finally made it to the screen.
What began as a way to respond to a theme grew into something with a life of its own.
FROM THE FILMMAKER
Maria Byoma is a Ugandan animator, writer and director behind Lice N’ Shine. Through the film, Maria brings the familiar world of boarding school life to animation, building a cast of characters whose routines and escapades leave room for both recognition and laughter.
A LITTLE NOSTALGIA, A LOT OF CHAOS
For anyone who remembers boarding school, some things will probably feel familiar: the routines, the rules, the friendships and the endless escapades that make an ordinary day anything but ordinary.
Maria hopes the film brings a sense of nostalgia to older audiences and at least three big laughs along the way. Because sometimes, when everything is going wrong, the best thing you can do is laugh about it.
What’s the one boarding school memory that still makes you laugh?
SEE IT AT MMM VOL. 5
Lice N’ Shine, screens as part of Mini Movie Marathon Vol. 5.
14 November 2026 · Nairobi
Come watch. Sit with it. Talk about it.
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