RWANDA’S AMBASSADOR to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to The United Nations, Marie Chantal Rwakazina, has stressed the importance of cinematography in preserving the country’s history and heritage. She made the remarks on July 19, during The Fribourg International Film Festival (FIFF) roundtable which exclusively focused on Rwanda with the theme “How to promote Rwandan cinematography that is not yet 20 years old?” Other panelists included Kantarama Gahigiri, a film director, writer and producer; Joel Karekezi, a screenwriter, film director and film producer; Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo, a filmmaker; and was moderated by Serge Gumy, editor-in-chief of Liberté (a Swiss newspaper). In her speech, Rwakazina reiterated the Government of Rwanda’s initiative to promote the creative and cultural industries for a heritage preservation. “Rwanda aims to leverage from its natural landscape assets, its stable environment, as well as its cultural and historical heritage, in order to become a leading destination for international film productions,” she noted. “This ambition falls within the context of a broader vision to capitalize on the audiovisual industry to promote Rwanda’s tourism destination.” To implement this, Rwakazina exemplifies, Rwanda Film Office (RFO) was launched in 2019, under the helm of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) with the aim to become a one-stop shop facilitating international shooting in Rwanda. After its establishment, RFO established the Kigali International Audio-visual Forum, an annual event which brings together different players in the film industry from around the world to be a major platform for exchanges on international best practices to attract foreign audiovisual productions, but also to increase new opportunities for international audiovisual productions, and co-productions in Rwanda. The ambassador concluded her remarks by underlining the need for bilateral and multilateral international cooperation agreement to support the strengthening of the audiovisual sector in Rwanda with the aim to establish a Cinema National Fund and a film school within the next threeyears. After her speech, several questions were directed to the panelists, among which they were asked why their content is mainly linked to the 1994 Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi. In their answers, they underlined the necessity to preserve the memory of the genocide against the Tutsi; restorative justice; and the fact that it is part of their lives. However, they also reiterated that they are all working on a good number of projects which include content that is not necessarily linked to the Genocide. Talking about the future of Rwandan cinematography, they described it as promising, and that plans are underway to establish a Cinema National Fund and a film school within the next three years. Having started in 1980, The Fribourg International Film Festival aims to promote the understanding between cultures through films. It gives preferences to productions that stimulate reflection and provoke discussion. The festival shines a light on blind spots, reveals new talents and puts the history of cinema in context with exclusive approaches. The New Territory section of the festival provided Rwandan filmmakers a particular platform to showcase their work. Over eleven Rwandan short and feature films are scheduled to be screened in this Festival’s section, making Rwanda the African country with the highest number of the films to be screened during this festival. They include King Solomons Mines; 100 Days; Gardiens de la Mémoire ; Munyurangabo ; Mon Voisin, Mon Tueur ; Matière grise ; Imbabazi : Le Pardon ; la Miséricorde de la Jungle ; Nameless and Notre-Dame du Nil among others.
