Kantarama Gahigiri : Terra Mater | Motherland - Berlinale Shorts 2023

Kantarama Gahigiri

Terra Mater | Motherland

Berlinale Shorts 2023

Kantarama Gahigiri

Terra Mater | Motherland

Rwanda/Switzerland - 2023

with Cheryl Isheja

https://www.berlinale.de/en/2023/programme/202310632.html

Description
There she stands, confidently, like a goddess of technological junk, surrounded by endless mountains of rubbish, plastic, stench and rare earths. Her accusations are angry, composed and to the point. 

Kantarama Gahigiri: Ethereality - FESPACO 2021

FESPACO 2021
Short documentary in competition

le Poulain d’or
Kantarama Gahigiri

Ethereality
Rwanda
14min38 - Documentary - 2019

Synopsis
Stranded in space for thirty years. How does it feel to finally come home? A reflection about migration and the sense of belonging.

Que ressent-on lorsqu'on rentre chez soi après trente ans passés dans l'espace ? Réflexions autour de la migration et du sentiment d'appartenance.
(Source: http://my.clermont-filmfest.com/)

 

Bio
Kantarama Gahigiri, who received her M.A. in Communications Arts, got her start in entertainment as a set production assistant, working on television shows and movies, like Men in Black 3. Now she focuses on stories about identity, diversity, and social issues. (Source: nyit.edu)

Kantarama Gahigiri est une cinéaste rwando-suisse. Son premier long métrage Tapis Rouge a été primé dans le monde entier, nommé pour TV5Monde Best Picture et est sorti en salles en France en mai 2017. Elle développe actuellement Tanzanite, un thriller afrofuturiste qui se déroule dans la ville colorée de Nairobi, avec lequel elle a participé à Realness, résidence d’écriture panafricaine. (Source:  https://www.lescinemasdumonde.com/

Kantarama Gahigiri: "Tanzanite" - Un projet soutenu par/ A project supported by La Fabrique Cinéma

Kantarama Gahigiri

"Tanzanite"

Un projet soutenu par | A project supported by La Fabrique Cinéma

Rwandan-Swiss filmmaker Kantarama Gahigiri participated in the renowned script development programme La Fabrique Cinéma de l'Institut français during Festival de Cannes with her feature film project TANZANITE. “Tanzanite is a female-centric thriller, and an irreverent Afrofuturistic critique of the current state of affairs in Nairobi.”

Long-métrage réalisé par Kantarama Gahigiri, et produit par Kivu Ruhorahoza, PW. Rwanda Dans un Kenya sans foi ni loi, une décennie après la grande guerre des minerais de 2030, la petite Adea, enfant enlevée pour travailler dans les mines, trouve une belle gemme de tanzanite. Cela déclenche une violente réaction en chaîne impliquant un gang de ninja traditionnel et le ministre de la Culture excentrique et notoirement corrompu, Mike Sankara. Machachari, la célèbre détective loufoque, se montrera-t-elle plus rusée que tous les autres et trouvera-t-elle la tanzanite avant qu’elle ne détruise sa communauté ? Un projet soutenu par La Fabrique Cinéma de l'Institut français.

 

Cannes 2019 : African Women at Cannes | La présence africaine au féminin

Cannes 2019 :
African Women at Cannes
La présence africaine au féminin

Mati Diop receives/reçoit le Grand Prix : ATLANTIQUE

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannes-2019-mati-diop-receivesrecoit-le.html

JURYS

Jury Longs-metrages | Features

Maïmouna N’Diaye: Franco-guinéenne actrice et réalisatrice | French-Guinean actress and filmmaker

https://www.festival-cannes.com/fr/festival/artiste/maimouna-n-diaye

Jury Caméra d'Or

Alice Diop: Franco-sénégalaise réalisatrice |

Franco-Senegalese filmmaker

https://www.festival-cannes.com/fr/festival/artiste/alice-diop

Semaine de la critique

Djia Mambu: Belgo-congolaise journaliste et critic du cinéma | Belgian-Congolese journalist at film critic https://www.semainedelacritique.com/fr/jury

SELECTION OFFICIELLE | OFFICIAL SELECTION

Competition Longs-métrages | Features

Mati Diop (France|Senegal) Atlantique, 2019. 104 min.

https://www.festival-cannes.com/fr/festival/films/atlantique

Un certain regard

Mounia Meddour (Algérie|Algeria) Papicha, 2019. 106 min.

https://www.festival-cannes.com/fr/festival/films/papicha

Monia Chokri (Canada-Tunisia) La Femme de mon frère, 2019. 117 min

https://www.festival-cannes.com/fr/festival/films/la-femme-de-mon-frere 

Maryam Touzani (Maroc|Morocco) Adam, 2019. 98 min.

https://www.festival-cannes.com/fr/festival/films/adam-1

SEMAINE DE LA CRITIQUE

Competition - Shorts | Courts métrages 

Nada Riyadh (Egypte) Fakh, 2019. 20 min.

https://www.semainedelacritique.com/fr/edition/2019/film/fakh

Comité de séléction | Selection Committee :

Clémentine Dramani-Issifou : Franco-Beninoise chercheuse et curatrice indépendante de films | French-Beninese researcher and independent film curator ) https://www.semainedelacritique.com/fr/comite-de-selection

Séance Spéciale - Longs métrages | Features

Hafsia Herzi (Tunisia-Algeria-France) Tu mérites un amour (You Deserve a Lover), 2019. 102 min.

https://www.semainedelacritique.com/fr/edition/2019/film/tu-merites-un-amour

LES CINEMAS DU MONDE: LA FABRIQUE

Kantarama Gahigiri is a Rwandan-Swiss filmmaker. Her first feature film Tapis Rouge has received awards worldwide, including TV5Monde Best Picture, followed by a theatrical release in France in May 2017. She is now developing Tanzanite, an Afrofuturistic thriller that takes place in colorful Nairobi, and she participated in Realness, an African screenwriters’ residency, with the film.

https://www.lescinemasdumonde.com/en/la-fabrique/2019/projet/tanzanite

QUINZAINE DES REALISATEURS | DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT

Comité de séléction | Selection Committee :

Claire Diao : Franco-Burkinabé journaliste et critic du cinéma | French-Burkinabé journalist and film critic

https://www.quinzaine-realisateurs.com/contact/

***

IEFTA in partnership with the Marché du Film 

IEFTA en partenariat avec le Marché du film

Marwa Zein, Sudanese director-producer, is among the seven young filmmakers attending the festival | La cinéaste-productrice soudanaise fait partie des sept jeunes cinéastes assistants au festival.

IEFTA (International Emerging Film Talent Association) once again partners with the renowned Marché du Film at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival to offer seven young filmmakers the opportunity to attend the festival, participate in career-changing Industry Workshops, develop their projects, build their networks and raise their ambitions.

L’IEFTA (International Emerging Film Talent Association) s'associe à nouveau au célèbre Marché du Film lors du 72ème Festival de Cannes pour offrir à sept jeunes réalisateurs la possibilité de assister au festival, de participer à des ateliers de réorientation professionnel, de développer leurs projets, de  construire leurs réseaux et réaliser leurs ambitions.

http://www.marchedufilm.com/

https://www.iefta.org/seven-filmmakers-to-attend-cannes-2019/

LINKS FROM THE AFRICAN WOMEN IN CINEMA BLOG:

Cannes 2019: Mati Diop receives/reçoit le Grand Prix

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannes-2019-mati-diop-receivesrecoit-le.html

Cannes 2019: Maïmouna N'Diaye, member of the jury | membre du jury: interview/entretien by/par Falila Gbadamassi (AfriqueFrance Télévisions)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannes-2019-maimouna-ndiaye-member-of.html

Mati Diop: "It was very important for me to dedicate a film to this ghost generation" | "C'était très important pour moi de dédier un film à cette génération fantôme". Interview/Entretien by/par Falila Gbadamassi (Africine, Cannes 2019)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/mati-diop-it-was-very-important-for-me.html

"Papicha: Mounia Meddour in resistance mode" | "Papicha : Mounia Meddour en mode résistance" analysis/analyse by/par Falila Gbadamassi (Africine)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/papicha-mounia-meddour-in-resistance.html

Djia Mambu, journalist and film critic | journaliste et critique de cinéma (Cannes 2019)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/djia-mambu-journalist-and-film-critic.html

Cannes 2019: Maryam Touzani's "Adam" (Morocco)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannes-2019-maryam-touzanis-adam-morocco.html

Mati Diop’s "Atlantique" – In the foam of the "Atlantic” | Dans l'écume de l' "Atlantique" analysis/analyse by/par Falila Gbadamassi (Africine)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/mati-diops-atlantique-in-foam-of.html

Mati Diop : Atlantique (Cannes 2019)

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/mati-diop-atlantique.html

Cannes 2019 : African Women at Cannes | La présence africaine au féminin
http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannes-2019-african-women-at-cannes-la.html

Rwandan Women in Cinema, Visual Media and Screen Culture

RWANDAN WOMEN IN CINEMA,

VISUAL MEDIA AND SCREEN CULTURE

African filmmakers aim to appropriate the images, techniques and the media in which they work, in the sense of a subjective representation of the social realities that surround them.

Digital technology facilitates this appropriation process in the creation of a self-image, in the sense that the general media adaptability that it engenders reinforces the expression of new subjectivities and contributes to the archiving of daily life.

This is Viviane Azarian’s assertion regarding the work of Rwandan filmmaker Jacqueline Kalimunda’s transmedia project Single Rwandan/Celib Rwandais.

Judging from the handful of Rwandan women in cinema who are becoming increasingly visible, using new technologies provides the means to reflect the realities of their societies. For example, Rwandan-German Amelia Umuhire’s Polyglot webseries examines the double-cultured identities of young afrodescendants in Berlin. Similarly, Claudine Ndimbira Shenge launched the “She&He” web series Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the She&He documentary web series focusing on LGBT in Rwanda. And another example of this ever-expanding phenomenon, using raw iPhone footage, U.S.-based Franco-Rwandan Anisia Uzeyman, creates a love story of a couple journeying across the United States.

The URUSARO International Women Film Festival was launched in 2015. The website presents the history of the festival as follows:

CinéFEMMES RWANDA is a non-profit organisation which promotes independent filmmaking by focusing on Rwandan female filmmakers through training, advocacy, networking and supporting their productions.

In November 2012, a group of Rwandan women filmmakers discussed their profession and realised that many Rwandan females have plenty of interesting film project ideas, but these were kept in cupboards because of limited self-confidence, lack of experience and opportunities and means to venture in the filmmaking industry. they finally decided to put their individual resources together by creating CinéFEMMES RWANDA to promote talents and interests of Rwandan females in filmmaking.

Following is a growing list of Rwanda women in cinema, visual media and screen culture, who work in Rwanda and its diaspora:

Amelia Umuhire, Anisia Uzeyman, Chantal Bagilishya (among the ancestors), Jacqueline Kalimunda, Marie Clementine Dusabejambo, Kantarama Gahigiri, Mugisha Pamella, Claudine Ndimbira

Below is an annotated list with links of relevant documentation regarding Rwandan women in cinema, visual media and screen culture.

Updated 04 Feburary 2023

ARTICLES ON RWANDAN WOMEN IN CINEMA FROM THE AFRICAN WOMEN IN CINEMA BLOG:

FESPACO 2019: Icyasha (Etiquette) by/de Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo (Rwanda)

A 12-year-old boy tries desperately hard to join a local boys' football team. His effeminacy disqualifies him. The boys often taunt him and bully him. He finds himself in a world where he must prove and claim his masculinity. The story shows the simultaneous pain and beauty of childhood.

See: https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/02/fespaco-2019-icyasha-etiquette-byde.html

(Re)Discover Claudine Ndimbira

Claudine Ndimbira (Shenge Intare) based in Kigali, began writing stories when she was fifteen-years old. After school she attended digital filmmaking classes at the Kwetu Film Institute. The following year in 2013, she participated in the animation workshop at the Luxor International Film Festival. The same year, During the Rwanda Film Festival workshop, Girls Make Movies, she directed the short film "My Mother, My Hero, for which she wrote the script. See: https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2018/12/claudine-ndimbira-support-her-film.html

Amelia Umuhire : Congo-Rwanda webseries Tuko - Life in Goma (FR-EN-DE). Widely known for her Polyglot webseries, Amelia Umuhire produced the Congo-Rwandan web series Tuko, Life in Goma in 2017. See https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2018/07/amelia-umuhire-congo-rwanda-webseries.html

Jacqueline Kalimunda : Love in Rwanda | De l'amour au Rwanda – TV5 MONDE +. Love in Rwanda. Claudine, a businesswoman, navigates between several jobs in order to construct a life independent of men. Neza, who is the younger of the two, dreams of the ideal man. Between these two experiences are the desires and disappointments of women in Rwanda. See http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2017/02/jacqueline-kalimunda-love-in-rwanda-de.html

Single Rwandan / Celib Rwandais by/de Jacqueline Kalimunda analyse/analysis by/par Viviane Azarian. Translation of analysis from French. While 2014 revived the international media interest in Rwanda, 20 years after the genocide of the country’s Tutsi population, filmmaker Jacqueline Kalimunda prepares for the 2015 release of a documentary, book, and web platform on "love in Rwanda". In a country where hatred reached the paroxysm of horror in 1994, a subject theoretically “ordinary" is nonetheless a profound inquiry. http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2015/06/single-rwandan-celib-rwandais-byde.html

Rwanda Film Festival 2013 : Our Mothers, Our Heroes
http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2013/08/rwanda-film-festival-2013-our-mothers.html

Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo parle du cinéma au Rwanda. La jeune cinéaste rwandaise Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo a beaucoup d’espoir pour le futur du cinéma au Rwanda. Elle nous parle de sa passion pour les films. See: http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2012/02/marie-clementine-dusabejambo-parle-du.html

Marie Clementine Dusabejambo talks about cinema in Rwanda. Marie Clementine Dusabejambo, a young filmmaker from Rwanda has great hopes for the future of Rwandan cinema. She talks to us about her passion for filmmaking.

See: http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2012/02/marie-clementine-dusabejambo-talks.html

Amelia Umuhire : "Polyglot" - webseries | websérie (Berlin). "Polyglot", a webseries created, written, directed and edited by Amelia Umuhire, a Rwandan-European self-taught filmmaker from Berlin and self-identifying Afro-European. See: http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2015/07/amelia-umuhire-polyglot-webseries.html

Jacqueline Kalimunda: “Single Rwandan” and her crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. Jacqueline Kalimunda talks about her project in progress, “Single Rwandan”, the importance of new technologies and her Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. See http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2014/11/jacqueline-kalimunda-single-rwandan-and.html

Jacqueline Kalimunda : « Celib Rwandais » et sa campagne de crowdfunding sur Indiegogo. Jacqueline Kalimunda parle de son projet en cours « Celib Rwandais », l’importance des nouvelles technologies, et sa campagne de crowdfunding sur Indiegogo. See: http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2014/11/jacqueline-kalimunda-celib-rwandais-et.html

Jacqueline Kalimunda’s Rwanda. Excerpts from Jacqueline Kalimunda’s website and a portrait about her at the Women’s International Film Festival of Creteil in 2010. See: http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2010/07/jacqueline-kalimundas-rwanda.html

In Memory of Chantal Bagilishya | À la memoire de Chantal Bagalishya. A tribute to the late Rwandan producer Chantal Bagilishya. See http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.fr/2009/10/in-memory-of-chantal-bagilishya.html

OTHER LINKS OF INTEREST REGARDING RWANDAN WOMEN IN CINEMA

The Rise of Rwanda's women filmmakers by Stefanie Jason, Fellow, International Women's Media Foundation's Great Lakes Reporting Initiative. Stefanie Jason follows the trajectory of several women of Rwanda and the Rwandan diaspora, who are at various stages of the their journey into cinema: Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, Ndimbira Shenge, Anisia Uzeyman, Mugisha Pamella. See: https://mg.co.za/article/2017-03-24-00-the-rise-of-rwandas-women-filmmakers

Filmmaker Ndimbira recounts her journey into film writing. In an interview with Moses Opobo Claudeine Ndimbira Shenge talks about her evolution into filmmaking. 03 January 2016.

http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/195786/

Investing in Love: Jacqueline Kalimunda's 'Single Rwandan'. Interview by Marian Evans of Wellwoodwoman. An extensive interview during which Jacqueline Kalimunda talks about her evolution into cinema, her films, and her experiences working locally in Rwanda and internationally across the globe. 11 November 2014. See: https://wellywoodwoman.blogspot.fr/2014/11/investing-in-love-jacqueline-kalimundas.html

Rwandan Director Anisia Uzeyman Asks: “Can Black Love Survive the American Dream?” T. Anthony Schear analyses Anisia Uzeyman’s film Dreamstates, a film that she directs and in which she acts with her real-life husband, singer Saul Williams. See:  http://reelydope.com/2017/11/17/dreamstates-movie-anisia-uzeyman

She & He – A web series project produced by Lycamedia Africa Ltd. In 2016 Claudine Ndimbira Shenge launched the She&He web series Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. The She&He documentary web series had as objective to focus on LGBT in Rwanda. While the campaign did not reach its funding objective and hence was not funded, the project proposal emphasized the importance of telling the “many stories, hidden, forgotten or simply untold that are out there.” See: http://lycamedia-africa.com/shehe/

REPORT BY BETI ELLERSON