MANY KNOW HER for her acting role in the famous series ‘City Maid’ since 2017, but Sandra Ishimwe, who acts in the film as ‘Nadia’ is not new in the film industry.

The actress’ journey to stardom did not come easy, not because she was not talented, but instead avoided favors from people who promised to give her a platform only if she had to sleep with them.

Ishimwe, in her early years of her career, wanted to prove what she was capable of acting but some people who she thought were in a position to give her a chance to shine instead blocked her from reaching the spotlight.

Every time she went for castings, people in charge would ask to sleep with her so they could let her pass the casting. However, she made a wise decision to avoid them because she knew she was going to put her life at risk if she had accepted the men’s wishes.

It took her four to five years waiting for her chance until she received an offer to act in City Maid, one of Rwanda's most popular web series.

"City Maid was the first film in which I started acting and I never auditioned. When the right time came, I was given a chance and I never took it for granted,” Ishimwe said.

Ishimwe is now one of celebrated actresses in the country thanks to her acting skills in different films she acted in, including an upcoming movie ‘Umubi’, her very first production since she started her career in 2012.

The movie features Ishimwe, her relatives including her mother, her sister and her brothers as well as a neighbor and friend of the family.

The fact that the film was produced during the pandemic, when stringent measures were in place to ban gatherings to prevent the spread of covid-19 saw Ishimwe left with no choice but to feature her family members as main characters of her movie.

They include Ishimwe’s brother Kevin Mugisha, her little sister Sandrine Mutesi, her mother Jeannette Sumwiza and her brother’s friend Guevara Mugisha.

"The film was shot during the night and under stringent conditions to ensure that they don’t violate the covid-19 guidelines where not many people were allowed to gather for a casting and we thought of doing the film with little resources we had,” she explained.

"We borrowed space at neighbors’ houses as a shooting location for various scenes. We couldn’t imagine we would come up with this huge thing but I am so excited we successfully made it. We thank our mother because she did all she could so the film could become a success,” she added.

The film, which clocks 35 minutes, features horrific moments where a divorced mother wants to raise her three kids through prayer as the sole tool to haunt their deceased sister every time they dream.

The mother, a true believer in Jesus Christ, always encourages her kids to always pray so they can prevent themselves from their sister’s curse which caused a dramatic death and nightmare visitations for the family after their sister’s father chose to abandon them and instead sacrificed her in exchange for the wealth.

Kevin Mugisha told The New Times that the movie is not based on a true story but rather built around life experiences and realities happening in society.

 "I didn’t do it because it happens in my family but to show the reality of what happens in society. We wanted to create something unique for our audience in Rwanda,” he said.

However, he said, children aged under 12 years are not encouraged to watch the film given the horror scenes that unfold in the film.

Sumwiza, Ishimwe’s mother, supports her children in growing their talents but had never acted before in a movie as was the case for Mute, the actress’ sister,  who is a musical artist and music student at Nyundo School of Arts and Music.

For Mutesi, making it in the movie for the first time made her realize that another talent, acting, has been hiding from her besides music which she currently follows as a career.

"It was my first time acting. They trusted me but I never imagined appearing before the camera. It was an amazing experience that I look forward to pursuing in future projects,” said Mutesi, after the launch of the movie trailer last week.

"I was so excited when they proposed to me to feature in the film, they encouraged me, and I am so excited that it worked,” she added.

‘Umubi’, which is loosely translated as ‘the dangerous one’, will be available in July this year.