Jean Baptiste Nyabyenda’s film ‘Blind teacher Kabarebe’ has been nominated for this year’s Vues d’Afrique film festival. The Rwandan filmmaker is currently in Montreal, Canada, where he is attending the festival. His five-minute documentary tells a heartbreaking story of a brave blind teacher called Kabarebe, who teaches at a secondary school in Gatsibo district, Eastern Province. Kabarebe teaches every day, despite being visually impaired. ‘Blind teacher Kabarebe’ was also last year nominated for the ‘Focus on Ability’ Short Film Festival in Australia. This festival, internationally renowned as the most prestigious of its kind in North America, is celebrating its 34th year. Vues d’Afrique was founded in 1984 by a group of Canadian artists who put together large-scale events highlighting African and Creole cultures. One of their goals is to open up African and Creole cinema, art and music to the Canadian public and stimulate cultural partnerships. Nyabyenda has also submitted his new documentary, ‘Ingoma Nshya’ to the organizing committee of Golden Tree International film festival that will take place in Germany in September, this year. ‘Ingoma Nshya’ is a ten-minute documentary that tells the story of Rwanda’s first ever women drumming group, which actively involves women’s participation in the cultural development of Rwanda. “I’m mostly interested in women issues but mostly I wanted to tell the importance of drums in our culture and the controversy of women drummers in the culture. I am impressed by how they are passing on the drumming skills to young girls,” said Nyabyenda. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
