My (Unofficial) Side Project: The Film Industry in Rwanda

Right now, it looks like a grass clearing sectioned off with brick walls, but next year, this will be Rwanda’s first movie theater.

Joseph Njata navigates me through a maze of rudimentary structures, gesturing with large hand motions the grand scope of the Rwanda Cinema Centre project. Even though there are random wooden beams jutting out of the ground, broken boards protruding through the windows of the “lobby,” you can tell that Joseph sees something very different, something marvelous and monumental. The way that he bounds up the stairs to the lobby, the way he lovingly touches the handrails to the small movie store on the side, you can sense his feverish excitement for the future of Rwandan film.

Established in 2003 by Eric Kabera, the producer of the 2001 film “100 Days” about the 1994 Genocide, the Rwanda Cinema Centre aims to train young film-makers and create a film industry in Rwanda. In 2005, Kabera hosted Rwanda’s first traveling film festival, called “Hillywood” (aptly named after Rwanda’s reputation as the “country of one thousand hills”) with half a dozen films shown each day for seven days. This year, the theme of the film festival was “Africa Celebrated” and the festival took place July 11 through 23.

So, you must be wondering – what exactly does this have to do with me?

Good question.

I found myself asking the same thing when my rendezvous with Rwandan writer, Apollo Ndungutse, was suddenly interrupted by a scrambling of chairs and the addition of four members from the Rwanda Cinema Centre. I had contacted Apollo to discuss the availability of English literature published by Rwandan writers pertaining to the genocide (see, I told you I was working on my other projects! :)). He is a member of the Rwandan Writers Association, and even though he hasn’t yet published any works, he is in the process of finishing a novel. Apparently, after learning of my interest in literature and my broader interest in artistic expression as a whole, Apollo contacted the Rwanda Cinema Centre to see if there were any possibilities of forging connections in the States.

While the Rwanda Cinema Centre has produced several films, it only has a couple copies of each because it has neither the funds nor the right to produce the films en masse.

Cue in the umuzungu from Northwestern University – the university that is home to the largest separate collection of Africana material in the world.

Over several Fanta citrons and a couple glasses of iced African tea, I listened to Pierre Kayitana, the coordinator of the Rwanda Film Festival; Christian Dakombe, a film director and producer; Joseph Njata, the Administrative Assistant; and Apollo, a film writer and actor, as they talked to me about the history of the Cinema Centre and poured out their desires and dreams for the establishment of a film industry in Rwanda. We talked about how so much of Rwanda’s history is told from the perspective of outsiders, and how, even the election of President Kagame generated more media outside than inside the country. “We want people to know about Rwanda now,” said Christian, “We don’t want people to always associate Rwanda with the Genocide.”

(As aforementioned, there are those that are not so keen to let Her speak, but I’ll save a more thorough discussion of “freedom of expression” for later).

I listened to these men for over three hours as they poured out their heartfelt beliefs in expression and the importance of establishing a film industry in Rwanda.

I agreed to help.

Over the next couple days, I emailed David Easterbrook, the curator of the Africana Library, to confirm the Library’s support in purchasing the films that have already been produced, and set up a collaboration between the Library and the Rwanda Cinema Centre. There are so few copies of the films that Joseph decided to first give me the computer files to preview while the Centre finds a way to put the films on DVDs. (Can you imagine? I have the files of the first few Rwandan films on my netbook?!) It’s just a small step, but every copy that is produced and distributed is a step toward the creation of a film industry in Rwanda.

Who knows? Maybe by this time next year, the Rwanda Cinema Centre will be up and running. Maybe if I find myself back in Rwanda next summer, I will be able to sit inside the theatre of Joseph’s dreams and take in the splendor of red cushions and towering pillars, the hushed anticipation of an eager audience. Maybe I will be able to sit back to watch a Rwandan film and smile at the memory of the grassy lot beneath my feet.

Or maybe not. Maybe nothing will change. Who knows?

“Life is never easy for those who dream,” said Robert James Waller.

We may not know what the future holds, but as it is, we continue to dream because it is only by reaching for the impossible that we can attain the unthinkable.