Inaugural refugee film festival kicks off

As the world geared up for the World Refugee Day celebrations on June 20, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in partnership with the Goethe-Institut and Ishyo Arts Centre launched the first ever Refugee Film Festival in the country at the Ishyo’s Theater hall in Kacyiru, Kigali, on June 19. The World Refugee Day was established by the United Nations to honour the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes under the threat of persecution, conflict and violence. The festival screens various films from across Africa and directly or indirectly related to refugee issues. Screenings highlight the personal dilemmas faced by each and every person forced to flee their homes to seek refuge and start a new life elsewhere.Among the films screened include “One Life One Story”, a short film produced by UNHCR in which multimedia series shot around the Great Lakes region, refugees, internally displaced people and personal testimonies.To conclude the first evening, a discussion on the issues highlighted in the films was held, particularly in the context of the recent influx of new refugees to Rwanda from DRC. During the event, there was a panel of discussions led by Dr Peter Stepan; UNHCR representative, Neimah Warsame Hope Azeda of Mashirika theatre group; former Mufti of Rwanda, Sheikh Saleh Habimana (Rwanda Governance Board); and journalist and former Rwandan refugee in Zambia, Geraldine Mukakabego.“The life and situation of the refugees in the movie is not any different from the life in refugee camps here,” said Warsame. “…anything is never small; whatever anyone gives to help refugees is something big to then.” While sharing her experience Azeda, said that being a refugee is special: “While in Uganda, I learnt a lot of things, and everything I am today is because of my experience in Uganda as we moved from one place to another,” she added. Mukakabego spoke of the importance of refugees not losing hope: “Everything comes to pass and you must smile and have hope like the band in the movie did.”“People used to get pissed off whenever I smiled in the camp but what drove me till today was the hope that one day I would to my homeland,” she added.A musical documentary dubbed “Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars” will be screened. The film talks about a remarkable story of a group of six Sierra Leonean musicians, who formed a band while living as refuge camp in the Republic of Guinea.Fiona Kamikazi, a journalism student at the National University of Rwanda (NUR), said: “It was great to see how this band motivated other refugees and used music to inspire and give hope to other refugees. I loved the move.” Yesterday, the film “Well-Founded Fear” was screened to a huge crowd at the theater.The festival will conclude today, with the screening of the world-renowned animation film “Persepolis”, which explores the experience of being uprooted and forced to build a new life far from home.

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Inaugural refugee film festival kicks off