Karemera on why Rwanda should tell its own stories

24-year-old Yves Karemera is the CEO, Impinga Zone Films and the brain behind the HeForShe documentary that airs on RTV as well as other video productions, ‘Isekere’ and ‘Publicite’. The multi talented video producer had a chat with Sunday Magazine’s Sharon Kantengwa about the inspiration behind his projects. From comedy, sports commercials and gender equality campaign, how do you come up with such ideas? I studied video production in 2011 when I was still in secondary school and I have done so many video projects since. ‘Isekere’ that I introduced in 2014 was inspired by Quebec Canada’s pranking and I thought I would give Rwandans the same feel. ‘Publicite’ was also inspired by the world cup. I look at incidences and shows that are trending that we do not have yet because that is what most viewers are interested in. There are lots of other producers and therefore being creative is what makes one different. I however take my projects one step at a time because I want to manage them appropriately. I am glad that I am getting good feedback from the viewers and media houses. About the HeForShe documentary The HeForShe is my initiative and a symbol of our support to the country as youth. We are at the forefront of promoting gender equality and the video is to portray our passion and show the world that gender equality is possible worldwide. I wanted to show the image of Rwanda in two ways, its state in the 90s in terms of gender equality and how much we have improved for the betterment of our country. The story was about my country but I was targeting the outside world. It wasn’t easy finding professional actors as it would require a lot of money which is why I acted, directed and produced it myself. What was your overall objective for this project? I believe that Rwandans should be able to tell their stories in every form. The message would be clear from the same people who have seen transformation. Nobody can tell our stories better than us which is why I intend to produce more developmental documentary films. Why choose video production as a career? I had passion for film making since I was young and luckily it was a dream come true. I also wish to contribute to the development of the film industry in this country as we still have a long way to go. We need to work hard to develop our talent and compete with countries that have made it big in the film industry by giving each other support. What other plans do you have? There is a competition on the 15th of next month coming up from UN and World Bank which is looking for stories on climate change and I hope to take part of it. I want showcase Rwandan talent to the rest of the world. That is my main goal.

Lifestyle

Karemera on why Rwanda should tell its own stories