How Ndahayo filmed his way to Hollywood screens

Gilbert Ndahayo (GN) is a Genocide survivor who was, literally, left with nothing to live for after losing his parents, relatives, neighbours and friends in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. However, all hopes were not lost for him, his loss turning into a quest to dignify the lives of those who were ruthlessly murdered in the Genocide. Now, he is among the first Rwandans to walk their way to the helm of the global film industry. Ndahayo owns “Rwanda: The Movie”, a film company that produces award-winning documentaries about Rwanda. His work has featured in a YouTube produced documentary ‘Life in a Day’ with Ridley Scott and Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland). Ndahayo is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Fine Arts at Columbia University in the City of New York. His latest film, The Rwandan Night won the 2013 Silicon Valley African Film Festival Best Documentary Feature film award. In an interview with The New Times’ Edwin Musoni, Ndahayo narrates his life from the dark days to Hollywood screens.TNT: When did you venture into the film industry and where do you derive your passion from?GN: In 1994, the stories about the death of our people were too much and yet too little but still, I wanted to know details about the brutalities, to know the names of the killers and other details to determine the last hour of my loved ones. The absence of such important details hinders the understanding of the Genocide.First, I wanted to write a book about my experiences, but my feelings didn’t allow me to write. For five years, I tried to write. In November 2005, I attended a film workshop conducted by two Swedish filmmakers, Goran Kapetanovich and Martin Widerberg. It was hosted by Rwanda Cinema Centre and funded by Swedish Film Institute. For three months, we learnt about the use of camera and watched some short films.I was offered to direct my first film “Scars Of My Days”, a fiction story by Omar M. Sibomana who also starred in the film. We filmed for two weeks. At night, I would stay at Rwandan Cinema Centre and edit the film. By the end of December, “Scars Of My Days” was ready for the festival. It was the best Christmas gift ever: my first film.In January 2006, I was offered to play the leading role in “The Graduation Day” a short film written and directed by Ayuub Kasasa Mago. I acted as a recent university graduate who is addicted to sex and drugs. We actually filmed in my parents’ home, which was still a ruin. I also edited the film.In April 2006, I attended the Genocide commemoration event. We spent the first week of April at home with fellow survivors and nuns. An important decision had been made. We had to re-exhume remains of our family members that were killed during the Genocide and rebury their bodies at Kigali Memorial Centre.I decided to capture the moment on video. I recorded a series of actions: the exhumation of the victims’ bodies, the nuns and our neighbours washing the bones and drying them in the sun. It was a long, tedious week of filming. I wanted to make a video-diary about those moments.TNT: What have been your achievements ever since you joined this film industry?GN: I started traveling to film festivals since 2006. “Scars Of My Days” was well received by the Rwandan community and the Rwandan film festival. In May 2007, I traveled with President Paul Kagame for an event called “Three Voices” organised by Tribeca Film Festival. We celebrated the first Rwanda Film Day and promoted our cinematic culture overseas.My debut documentary “Behind This Convent” (66 min) received the Verona Award for Best African Film and Signis Commendation for Best Documentary Film. It is now titled “Rwanda: Beyond The Deadly Pit” (100 min) and has been nominated for over 10 Best Documentary Feature Film Awards, including the prestigious African Movie Academy Awards. The film documents my journey in an attempt to find forgiveness to my parents’ murderer and honour the victims of the Genocide.In 2011, I received a production grant from Friends Of Rwanda (FORA) in California to produce “The Rwandan Night” featuring three Rwandan poets who provided original music of commemoration for the film. The estimated budget for “The Rwandan Night” is $75,000. Amb. Mathilde Mukantabana, Rwanda’s envoy to the United States, and Ms. Olive Mukabalisa, a Genocide survivor living in Missouri, helped raise the funds. My current film projects include documentaries; “The Rwandan Day”, “The Rwandan Silence” (now titled “La Famille”) and an action short action film, “The Girl In The Ditch,” set to be released ahead of the 20th commemoration of the Genocide next year. I also intend to publish a book on filming the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda TNT: In “The Rwandan Night”, are there significant scenes we should know about?GN: The opening shot is of two men digging a pit in my parents’ backyard. The shot is of our voyeurism. I do not reveal my father’s dead body but only reflect about my debut documentary “Rwanda: Beyond the Deadly Pit”. It is my first time I am working with fellow Rwandan artists. Mighty Popo’s “Nibarize” (Tell Me) draws out of melodic whispering style in use by “Inanga” players (string instrument).In one scene, I instruct my cameraman to switch off the camera, which is an order he should not obey - in any form or fashion. The scene plays with Suzanne Nyiranyamibwa’s famous song “Ibuka” (Remember). In this specific scene, the character gets emotional. Suzanne’s voice is beautiful and her poem captures the essence of the documentary.The survivor’s monologue is terrific. Half of his face illuminates. He is often filmed in a low angle, which makes him look menacing, huge and in charge of his destiny and testimony. The survivor has a scar on his forehead where he was hit with a club studded with nails (known as Ntampongano or “without pity”) during the Genocide.“The Rwandan Night” demanded an appropriate writing, and also a writing of muted gestures and no spoken dialogue. Often you would see people hug each other, survivors closing the caskets of the victims of the genocide, women carrying flowers and nuns’ hands making the sign of the cross. The moments of silence add emotions and punctuate or challenge personal connection to the film.Despite the prevailing silence, the text on the screen is an image too. Text is used as a cinematic transition to the monologue. Ban Ki-Moon (UN Secretary General) and Bill Clinton’s (former US President) appearance in the film have more power in the film and are used as a bookend before final credits. The ending sequence titled “Voice of God” is a gut-wrenching cry. A young lady laments her mother’s death, “God didn’t you see us digging out the bones in the pit? God, why did you allow the Genocide against the Tutsi? If I get married, what will I tell my children?” This is a bone chilling end – it is a night, it is The Rwandan Night”To these emotions, the camera says “Humura” which means “be comfortable” as the song of Aimable Twahirwa plays and the handheld camera moves from the middle of the crowded stadium of Mumena towards the traumatised survivors. What the shots arouse here is a transformation that engages the film audience into bearing witnesses and what it means to be a survivor.My challenge was to produce a high quality film in which the viewer can see the voices of Rwanda. According to Hollywood standards of consumption, a film should have several cuts and chunks of dialogue. It may feel as if my film is not important. However, I feel that my film is not important without the long moments.TNT: How did you get the idea to write the script for “The Rwandan Night”?GN: My decisions on a film set are spontaneous. I want to capture moments and series of actions in a given time. I also anticipate challenges. So you would find in my films that I place my camera in front of the subject in medium close-up to record most of the actions and establish the location of filming, This happens to portray what the audience would be seeing, sitting front row centre in a theatre, watching. I do not use voice-overs. I write my documentary script in post-production. I write, I edit the film, first on the chronological order of the shoot; then by themes and locations and, finally, the emotions of the moments. However, “The Rwandan Night” is more research-based than emotional driven documentary.TNT: How did you finance your films?GN: I invest my time and skills in producing my films without expecting financial contribution from anyone. In Hollywood, financing films often comes with a lot of clichés.All attempts to secure finances for my first feature film “Rwanda: Beyond The Deadly Pit” were futile both from Rwandan and foreign financiers. Maybe it was too early for them to help. I invested $50 to make the film but the services and access it provided to me were invaluable.“The Girl In The Ditch” is my thesis film project for Masters in Fine Arts (film directing) at Columbia University i. The film is in the development phase. I have raised $3,000 out of $15,000 needed. Principal photography is planned for January 2014.As the saying goes, “Ak’imuhana kaza imvura ihise” (outside help comes after the rain); the same applies for an independent filmmaker as one strives for “agaciro”. It is not the money that makes the craft.TNT: Aside from the “The Rwandan Night” project, do you have any other future movies or videos that you are working on?GN: This year, my interview with Audrey Parmentier of the Deutsch Welle is the spotlight of “Forum des Cultures”. I announce the production of the documentary trilogy, a 300 min film project composed of “The Rwandan Night”, “The Rwandan Day” and “The Rwandan Silence” to be released ahead of the 20th commemoration of the Genocide. I also intend to produce a short action film tentatively titled “The Girl In The Ditch” and publish a book on filming the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.“The Girl In The Ditch” is a drama short film set in the contemporary Rwanda and tells the story of a young lady who is invited to speak at a Genocide commemoration event at the local stadium with an attendance of 11,000 Genocide survivors. But she’s not yet ready. Coincidentally, she meets the man who abandoned her at the killing ditch - during the Genocide that claimed the lives of her entire family within one hundred days.“The Girl In The Ditch” is co-written and executive produced by Laura M. Campos, a Spanish filmmaker who will bring to Africa a huge-film and television production experience. I met with Ms. Laura in Berlin at the 2013 Berlinale Talent Campus. We were both shopping for our projects.How would you compare Rwanda’s film industry with that of America?Rwanda’s film industry is growing at a slow pace due to lack of infrastructure and skilled labour. Filmmakers should strive to improve their skills by attending schools and workshops. It is not enough to have a story for film. Film education improves the capacity to communicate through arts.The media and other entertainment outlets give little attention to films directed and produced by Rwandans yet foreigners are getting more recognition. The media should play the midwife to highlight the aesthetics of Rwandan films in local, international and online media.In America, making a film is not a personal affair. It is just a business. Americans appreciate the cinematic language. In Rwanda, cinema is the language of tomorrow. As we celebrate our culture, the government of Rwanda should invest in restoring the national pride and improve the cultural values through cinema. Until today, there is no authority established to work on various aspects of the seventh art. It is urgent to set up an institution that will work with local filmmakers in order to engage our society with the arts. There is lack of films produced by Rwandans. To enhance the image of Rwanda, there is a need to increase the number of Rwandan films. Rwanda needs to produce films; and it is the only way to get an industry presence of Rwanda globally. This goes without saying that film productions have a positive impact not only to the country’s image but also its economy.Rwandan filmmakers should also aim at producing high quality content, aim to compete and represent Rwanda globally.

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How Ndahayo filmed his way to Hollywood screens