A group of Hollywood filmmakers recently traveled to Iran on a mission of cultural exchange as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ (AMPAS) International Outreach Committee.

AMPAS is a professional honorary organization that is dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures. It is composed of over 6,000 motion picture professionals.

The Academy is famous across the world for its annual Academy Awards, informally known as the "Oscars”.

The group’s journey to Iran was colorful, as any of their famous 1940s "Road” movies, although admittedly their purpose was a bit more serious than those long-gone ambassadors of entertainment.

A similar visit by the members of Academy of Motion Picture to Rwanda is scheduled in July this year.

The delegation will visit Rwanda on the invitation of Eric Kabera, the founder of the Rwanda Cinema Centre, also famous in the movies ‘100 Days’ and ‘Keepers of Memory’

Meanwhile, Kabera is in Los Angeles where he is working on his latest film, in partnership with KWETU Film Institute (KFI) – a film school that is intended to be a centre of academic excellence for exploring new kinds of communication, cultural expression, and regional civic engagement.

Through cinematic education and training, including programmes in film, television and mobile, as well as supporting programmes in the performing arts, KFI will provide East Africa with a holistic, sustainable and internationally recognized media training facility.

In the next five years, KFI expects to enroll approximately two thousand students, who will be exposed to all the important aspects of cinematic media creation.

With practitioner instructors, experts in various fields of media, KFI will offer professional, hands-on media training programmes founded upon solid academic criterion. The two key overarching goals of KFI are to focus on developing the media literacy skills of individual participants and contribute to the cultural and economic cohesiveness of the East African Community of the five nations of Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda.

While in Rwanda, the filmmakers will grace the official launch of KWETU Film Institute slated for July 18. The mentors will offer master classes to both new and former filmmaking students at the institute.

The group will also attend the 7th edition of Rwanda Film Festival event which will begin from July 16 -30, among other activities.

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