Rwandan therapist on winning global festival award, shedding light on trauma through film

Rwandan filmmaker and psychotherapist Celestin Mutuyimana was awarded at the Young Visionary Research Awards on September 29 in Bern, Switzerland by Ethno Kino Film Festival. Mutuyimana scooped an award for his two films, ‘The Soul Wound’ which depicts the impact of trauma-related disorders on the community and a way out, and ‘Sewing Souls’, which reveals the impact of trauma on families and strategies of coping. ALSO READ: Rwandan filmmaker scoops Global Science Film Festival award The award is given to three selected projects with an impact on the community. Mutuyimana stated that the chosen projects ensure the resilience of human beings. “The message behind my movies falls under overcoming trauma and striving for resilience, as this is my career,” he noted. ALSO READ: Youth share experience on intergenerational trauma Mutuyimana anticipates becoming a catalyst of change in the treatment of trauma-related disorders worldwide, especially in Africa and Rwanda. “As I am running a new establishment in Rwanda, Baho Smile Institute, I hope that in the future this will be a centre of excellence in East Africa that will help people to recover from their past traumatic experiences, bouncing back and restoring the African and Rwanda culture values of ubuntu (humanity).” The aim of the festival is to sustain visions and resilience among communities all over the world. “The festival is dedicated to visionaries and pioneering storytellers across the globe, working towards systemic change through the power of authentic and meaningful storytelling. Each year they select three winners, a storyteller, and visionaries whose activities have contributed to changing practice, and have the vision to help an international community,” Mutuyimana stated. Mutuyimana was selected for his international research and psychotherapy practice on trauma-related disorders. This is not the first instance of his work being reorganized. On April 2, he was also recognized as the inaugural scientist filmmaker winner for his film 'Sewing Souls' at the 5th Global Science Film Festival (GSFF) in Zurich, Switzerland. Mutuyimana is a psychotherapist, filmmaker, trainer, mentor, and researcher with over 10 years of experience. He pursued a career in psychotherapy due to his upbringing in Rwanda, where numerous individuals endure trauma-related disorders without adequate professional assistance. For this reason, he founded the Baho Smile Institute (BSI) in 2019, a psychotherapeutic and research centre in Rwanda, whose main goal is to create more awareness of mental disorders and help affected people get the professional assistance they need.

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Rwandan therapist on winning global festival award, shedding light on trauma through film