Brandes on marketing Rwanda as a film hub

Martin Brandes is the senior advisor for international Co-operation and Relationships under the Rwanda Media Project. Rwanda Media Project, (RMP) is a two-year training programme for film designers by Deutsche Welle (DW) Academy. It was initiated by the German film director Volker Schlöndorff and Rwandan film director Eric Kabera. Brandes spoke to The New Times’ Stephen Kalimba about the project, its activities and goals. Excerpts: What is the aim of the RMP? The aim of this project is to train professional film designers and technicians and to help build a film economy which includes TV programmes, documentaries, quiz shows, and children’s TV shows. We intend to consult with government institutions on how to market Rwanda as a favourable venue for film and TV companies. The government structures are there. There’s security, the weather is good and the scenery is fantastic. How is Rwanda’s film industry compared to other developing countries you have been to? It’s hard to compare because they are at different levels. For example Kenya and West Africa have done movies for many years and have experience and strong structures. Traditionally, Rwanda is not a film country, we are implementing the idea that film can be part of the economy, employ people, entertain people and make money. The project span is only two years. Is that time enough to train people in the film industry? In this type of project two years isn’t enough. Since we started in February last year, we have developed and prepared a special curriculum only for Rwanda. In German, this type of training takes three years, but here we follow the TVET system. We will do it for only two years and graduates will acquire a diploma. The German government is going to hold talks with Rwandan officials soon about the next level of this project which is to last three years. Martin Brandes is the senior advisor for international Co-operation and Relationships. What linkages has RMP created between Rwanda and the film industry out there? We want to have skilled and trained personnel and these professionals need to be compatible with professionals from other countries We aim to link Rwandan filmmakers and Rwandan institutions to international film business. This requires a Film Commission like the Tourism Board which attracts tourists to visit the country. The film commission serves to market films from here and attract film and TV companies to shoot films. In-fact we are working with some German TV companies and production companies. There is the Rhineland-Palatinate & Rwanda twinning partnership and they have an office in Berlin. During the German Film Festival in February next year, they will show some films from Rwanda, for everybody to watch. What are the requirements for local filmmakers to be connected? We want students who are talented in handling technical things like video cameras, lighting and sound equipment, but not established film producers. The students should at least have a level of secondary school education. There are classes of fifteen students broken down into teams of three, and they are taught by film mentors from Germany. What are your achievements so far as a project? We have established a media training institution and developed a curriculum only for Rwanda which is a big thing. We have had successful workshops about lighting, sound, editing and production. We have implemented the idea that a film economy can be supported to build the nation and it can employ many people in the country. We have many ideas we have been discussing with the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture like quiz shows, technical teaching videos, children TV series and nature shows which are very popular.

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Brandes on marketing Rwanda as a film hub