THE MINISTER for Sports and Culture Joseph Habineza has called upon those in the film industry to form associations that would deal directly with his ministry, so as to promote the film industry in the country.

Speaking during a press conference at the ministry’s headquarters in Remera on Thursday, the minister said that it’s lack of such associations and federations that has continued to hamper the growth of local film industry.

Minister Habineza said that they have embarked on a programme to train those in the industry to enable them come up with quality products which will not only appeal to the Rwandan market, but also internationally.

Filmmakers will train in both Kinyarwanda and English by the end of the year as one way of promoting filmmaking in the country.

"We are going to look at other strategies that will help in promoting the movie industry in the country so that our filmmakers can become professionals in what they do,” the minister added.

The minister said that they expect the associations to have been formed by the end of the year so that they can together formulate a draft policy to streamline the industry.

The minister said that making movies is not merely about putting images together, but is a challenging field that involves good research and deep knowledge of the audience a particular movie is targeting.

"When the public doesn’t appreciate your movie, it means that it was not good enough. You have to go back to the drawing board and discover what went wrong with it,” he advised the filmmakers.

The minister added that they are looking at innovative ways through which Rwandan movies would be promoted regionally and even internationally, saying that they are planning to use an online programme proposed by telecom operator Tigo.

Several filmmakers welcomed the minister’s advice, saying that what has made Rwanda’s movie industry to lag behind is lack of clear policies to guide it. They also cited lack of market as the industry’s Achilles Heels.

"The biggest challenge we face as filmmakers is lack of market. The local market is still small, it’s difficult for even a good movie to penetrate this small market,” said Willy Ndahiro, a film director.

Ndahiro said that lack of legal status of policies has been the bane of the movie industry in Rwanda, but hastened to add that with the minister’s initiative, there’s going to be a big improvement in filmmaking in the country.

Alliance Isimbi, an actress, also welcomed the minister’s initiative, saying the roadmap would help ensure that the challenges that face the fledgling industry are addressed.