Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo made history on Saturday, May 23, after winning the prestigious Caméra d’Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival for her debut feature film Ben’Imana.

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The award, also known as the Golden Camera, is presented to the best first feature film across all Cannes selections, including the Official Selection, Directors’ Fortnight, and Critics’ Week. It is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious honours for emerging filmmakers worldwide.

Ben’Imana also became the first film directed by a Rwandan filmmaker to screen in the festival’s official selection after premiering in the Un Certain Regard section on May 19.

Set in Rwanda in 2012, the film follows Vénéranda, a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who is involved in community-led justice and reconciliation efforts. As pressure mounts in her professional life, a crisis within her family forces her to confront the limits of forgiveness and reconciliation.

The film explores the emotional burden carried by survivors and the complexities surrounding forgiveness in post-genocide Rwanda.

Dusabejambo spent more than a decade developing the project through several international film labs and co-production programmes, including Less Is More, La Fabrique Cinéma, Atlas Workshops, and Ouaga Film Lab. The project also received support from the Berlinale World Cinema Fund and Norway’s Sørfond.

The film was produced by Ejo Cine Ltd in Rwanda and Princesse M Prod in Gabon, in co-production with Les Films du Bilboquet in France and Duo Film in Norway.

Accepting the award during the Cannes closing ceremony, Dusabejambo dedicated the honour to the women whose stories inspired the film.

"To receive this Golden Camera Award at Cannes for a first film is an immense wave of gratitude,” she said.

"I wanted to make this film because I wanted to pay tribute to the women of my country — women who, through horror, found the strength to stand up with dignity, to forgive, and to move forward, even painfully.”

She also described making a first feature film as "jumping into the void,” adding that the support of collaborators and the wider film community helped bring the project to life.

The award was presented by Canadian filmmaker Monia Chokri.