Preps for Rwanda Film Festival

Film is the most effective and efficient way of passing on information to the masses, says Eric Kabera, the founder of the Rwanda Film Festival. “You can’t just wake up one day and say I ‘am now a filmmaker, it takes time to make your own sensitive movie that will enable you cross borders. Filmmaking needs an imaginable patience and tolerance. It is not simple as eating bananas but you will definitely succeed if you tell your story cinematically.” He adds. Kabera was the brain behind the making of the recently produced feature film, “Africa United”. Some of his work includes the first feature film on genocide, ‘100 Days’ and ‘Keepers of Memory’ – the movies have been screened in different film festivals around the world. Film making is an amazing industry which does not segregate. From toilet, dustbin and car cleaners, sweepers, barbers, cobblers – to millionaires, billionaires, multimillionaires and tycoons, all can benefit equally from the industry. According to Joseph Njata, a film critic, it is only in a film institute that one can enroll for a film course without the usual rigorous need for qualifications. A passion to the art and language qualifies someone to join a film course. Every time you watch a movie, read the movie preview and you will discover hundreds of job opportunities in film industry. Despite jobs, film is a great source of knowledge and relief. There are so many stories to be told, but there are not enough people to tell them. But the good news is that people are always ready to buy good stories especially visual ones. Everyone is struggling to earn a living and there is no time for telling stories though there is much need for listening and watching good stories. Storytelling is not taught in our schools. Rwanda is a country of a ‘thousand hills’ and each hill has a thousand stories to tell. Rwandans have always wondered how foreigners can tell their stories better than they do. It was along this line of thought that Kabera got the idea of establishing Rwanda Cinema Centre that brought forth the Rwanda Film Festival and KWETU Film Institute. This year, Rwanda Cinema Centre is organising the 7th edition of Rwanda Film Festival and the official launch of KWETU Film Institute to be graced by a team from the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences from Hollywood in the U.S. This year’s film festival would be celebrated under the theme: “Africa Celebrated at Hillywood.” Watch this space as we keep you updated on this year’s festival. Ends

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Preps for Rwanda Film Festival