Rwandan short movies applauded

CINEMA goers from various parts of Kigali converged at Ishyo Theatre hall in Kacyiru, on Tuesday evening, for a movie night under the theme: ‘A red carpet for young Rwandan cinema” event.Four brilliant and inspiring films: ‘Nota Bene’ by Richard Mugwaneza, ‘Saa-Ipo’ by Jean Luc Fils Habyarimana, ‘Ruhago’ by Aimé Philbert Mbabazi, and Jean Bosco Nshimiyimana’s ‘Mama’ were screened and massively appreciated by the audience.The four, low-budget short films were introduced by the talented up-and-coming directors of Almond Tree Films and are in Kinyarwanda original with English subtitles.The free screening night started at 6:30 p.m, and the event was made possible by the Goethe-InstitutAfter the screening, the directors went on the stage to answer questions from the enthusiastic audiences, who showed great appreciation to the budding film directors. “I am amazed by the great job these young directors did, directing and outing impressive short movies out of their meagre resources. I enjoyed watching each of these movies and I think they can do even better,” James Kamanzi, a resident of Kigali, said.Jean Luc Fils Habyarimana, the director of ‘Saa-Ipo’-a short movie about two orphaned boys, who were once beggars but beat the odds to pursue their musical talent, said that he was inspired by way Rwandan musician struggle to promote their talent.“I love music and my movie ‘Saa-Ipo’ depicts two teenager musicians striving to develop their music- with no resources,” Habyarimana says.“There are very many talented musicians in Rwanda but they lack financial support to take their music to a higher level,” he adds.Like the latter, Ruhago is also a short movie about a talented young boy from a poor family whose dream is to join the national soccer academy. While pursuing his dream, the young boy messes up his Dad’s receiver (radio) who, infuriated, hits the boy, inflicting him with a life career threatening injury. The short movie however has a happy ending because as the starlet recovers, a letter of admission into the academy arrives and it ends with the boy celebrating the good news with the Dad.Nshimiyimana’s “Mama” is about a widowed mother of two young boys who struggles between health and fending for her family. Her immediate neighbour, who is willing to help, is responsible for the death of the husband of the woman.Basically, the movie is about unity and reconciliation because as it ends, the man who killed the husband tells the young boys “I killed your Dad. I was imprisoned, I asked for forgiveness which I was given, but today am here, not to kill but to help. I am looking for peace.”

Leisure

Rwandan short movies applauded