Rwanda has chosen Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s post-genocide drama Ben’Imana as its first ever submission to the Greatest Worldwide Function Movie class of the Academy Awards.
The choice continues a high-profile profession for the movie following its prize-winning premiere in Un Sure Regard within the 2026 Cannes Movie Competition in Could, the place it clinched the Caméra d’Or for Greatest First Movie and FIPRESCI Prize.
The movie has since made its North American premiere on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition and can make its UK premiere on the BFI London Movie Competition this month.
The choice of Ben’Imana as Rwanda’s first-ever Oscar entry was introduced by Alexander, the unbiased media firm of movie producer Cameron Lamb, which acquired English-speaking rights to the movie in September as the primary acquisition of is new distribution division.
The corporate revealed that it’s going to launch the movie theatrically within the UK on February 19, 2027 adopted by a US launch from March 2027. World gross sales are dealt with by Paris-based mk2 movies.
Set in 2012, eighteen years after the genocide in opposition to the Tutsi, the movie unfolds in a Rwandan village the place survivors and perpetrators are grappling with the method of reconciliation.
Protagonist Vénéranda has spent years serving to survivors and the households of these accountable communicate the phrases that have been by no means mentioned between them. Nevertheless, forgiveness comes simpler when it’s another person’s story. When her personal daughter’s future turns into entangled with the previous, Vénéranda is pressured to seek out her personal phrases ultimately.
The movie stars Isabelle Kabano, who gained approval for her efficiency within the 2021 characteristic Small Nation: An African Childhood and introduces large display screen debutants Clémentine U. Nyirinkindi and Kesia Kelly Nishimwe.
It’s written by director Dusabejambo in collaboration with Delphine Agut, with cinematography by Mostafa El Kashef and an unique rating by Rwandan singer-songwriter Igor Mabano.
The movie is a majority co-production between Rwanda and Gabon and minority co-production with France, Norway, and Côte d’Ivoire. It was shot totally on location in Rwanda with a primarily Rwandan crew.
