Eric Kabera (born in 1970) is a Rwandan

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and founder and president of Rwanda Cinema Center.

Early life and career

Eric Kabera, a Rwandan, was born in

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

, now the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC).Rwandan Genocide: 12 Years Later

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, April 8, 2006. Accessed February 26, 2009. Even though he was still living in the DRC when the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi started in April 1994, Kabera said that his family members who were living in Rwanda at the time, 32 of them dying in the violence.On The Media: Transcript of "100 Days in Rwanda"
,

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, November 22, 2002. Accessed February 26, 2009. This inspired him to make a 2001 feature film about the

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

titled '' 100 Days'' and a 2004 documentary titled ''Keepers of Memory'' in which he interviewed both victims and perpetrators of the atrocities.Bloomfield, Steve
Welcome to Hillywood: how Rwanda's film industry emerged from genocide's shadow
''

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'', August 30, 2007. Accessed February 26, 2009. ''100 Days'', which Kabera made in collaboration with the British filmmaker Nick Hughes, was the first film shot in Rwanda after the Rwanda genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, and it was also the first feature film about the genocide before ''

Hotel Rwanda ''Hotel Rwanda'' is a 2004 drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay co-written by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana. Based on the ...

''. The film employed no professional actors, rather the filmmakers used actual

Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic ...

and

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the p ...

survivors to act out the script, and was shot on location at the actual scenes where acts of genocide occurred. Cast: Eric Bridges Twahirwa, Cleophas Kabasita, Davis Kagenza, Mazimpaka Kennedy, Davis Kwizera, David Mulwa, Didier Ndengeyintwali, Denis Nsanzamahoro, Justin Rusandazangabo

Present activities

Today, Kabera is the founder and president of the Rwanda Cinema Center, an organization that aims to promote the Rwanda's film industry.Kisambira, Timothy
Rwanda: The Golden Experience of the Silver Screen
AllAfrica.com, April 6, 2008. Accessed February 26, 2009.Gathoni, Peninnah
Fifth Film Festival to be held in June
'' The New Times'', 2009. Accessed February 26, 2009. Kabera initially set up the Center as an organization that would train new filmmakers but, since 2005, the center has been better known for organizing the annual

Rwanda Film Festival The Rwanda Film Festival, also known as Hillywood, is a film festival held annually in July in Kigali, Rwanda. The Rwanda Film Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Africa's major film events. History The ...

. The Rwanda

Film Festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

, nicknamed "Hillywood" due to Rwanda's nickname of " Land of a Thousand Hills", is a travelling festival. Due to Kabera's desire to show the films to as large an audience as possible, the festival is held not only in the capital of Kigali but the films, especially ones made by Rwandan filmmakers, are also shown on large inflatable screens in rural areas throughout the country. More recently, Kabera has stated that the festival will make a move away from focusing only on the issue of the genocide; rather "other social issues" of modern Rwanda will be explored.Don't mention the genocide: Rwanda film industry moves on

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, March 28, 2008. Accessed February 26, 2009. Kabera says that he would like to make a comedy. Partly to help further promote the film festival, Kabera has started a project to build Rwanda's first purpose-built movie theatre in Kigali. The theatre has been under construction since at least 2007 but progress is slow due to lack of funds necessary to complete the project.

Filmography

Alphonse's bike : 2009- Producer-

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Intore. 2014- Producer,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, co writer. Karani Ngufu- 2018-2019- executive producer

References

External links

*
Official website

Interview with Kabera on Behind the Roadblock
for

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabera, Eric 1970 births Living people Tutsi people Rwandan film directors Rwandan film producers