Carole Umulinga Karemera (born 1975) is a Rwandan actress, dancer, saxophone player, and playwright.

Biography

She was born in 1975 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, the daughter of Rwandan exiles. As a child, Karemara excelled at mathematics and dreamed of opening a bakery. Karemera studied at the National Conservatory of Theater and Dance in Brussels. In 1994, her father, a journalist, returned to Belgium as a result of the

Rwandan Genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

. Karemera first discovered Rwanda on a motorcycle in 1996. She performed in several plays, such as

The Trojan Women ''The Trojan Women'' ( grc, Τρῳάδες, translit=Trōiades), also translated as ''The Women of Troy'', and also known by its transliterated Greek title ''Troades'', is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced in 415 BC during ...

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...

, The Ghost Woman by Kay Adshead, and Anathema, before starting her film career. Between 2000 and 2004, she played the leading role in Rwanda 94. Her uncle, Jean-Marie Muyango, composed the score for the show. In 2005, Karemara starred as Jeanne in

Raoul Peck Raoul Peck (born 9 September 1953 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a Haitian filmmaker, of both documentary and feature films. He is known for using historical, political, and personal characters to tackle and recount societal issues and historical ...

's film '' Sometimes in April'', about the Rwandan genocide. The same year, she decided to settle in

Kigali Kigali () is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwanda's economic, cu ...

. Upon moving to the country, Karemara became involved in cultural projects, including staging interactive plays in bars and in the streets of Rwandan cities, in order to create a common history. Along with Cécilia Kankonda, she set up a "sound cathedral" built from recordings of memories in which participants could tell their memories of Rwanda before 1994. In 2006, Karemara and seven other women established the Ishyo Arts Center in Kigali to support culture in the capital, which did not have a theatre until that point. Karemara starred as Beatrice in the 2007 film ''

Juju Factory ''Juju Factory '' is a 2007 film. Synopsis Kongo lives in Brussels, in the Matongé district on which he is writing a book. His editor wants a kind of traveler's book spiced with ethnic ingredients. However, the writer is inspired by the visio ...

''. She received the Best Actress award at the Festival Cinema Africano in Italy. She wrote the play "Chez l’habitant", about the experiences of women in Brussels, Kigali and Sevran. Karemara has served as the Deputy Secretary General of Arterial Network, as well as the Arterial Network Country Representative in Rwanda. She starred in

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

's 2016 play ''

Battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troops ...

'', based on ''

The Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

''. In 2018, she received an award at the Les Journées théâtrales de Carthage, honoring her work in the theatre in Rwanda.

Filmography

*2005: '' Sometimes in April'' as Jeanne *2006: ''

Sounds of Sand ''Sounds of Sand'' (original title ''Si le vent soulève les sables'', literally "If the Wind Raises the Sands") is a drama film directed by Marion Hänsel about a family in the Horn of Africa making a trek to find sufficient water during a drought. ...

'' as Mouna *2007: ''

'' as Béatrice *2008: ''

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

'' as Pamela

References

External links

Carole Karemera
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karemera, Carole 1975 births Living people 21st-century actresses Rwandan actresses Rwandan musicians Actresses from Brussels