Rwanda Submits 'Ben'Imana' as First Oscar Entry — SkimNews
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- Rwanda submitted Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo's "Ben'Imana" for the international feature category at the 99th Academy Awards, marking the country's first-ever Oscar submission.
- 'Ben'Imana' premiered in Cannes's Un Certain Regard section, won the Camera d'Or (best first feature across all of Cannes) and the Fipresci prize, debuted in North America at the Toronto Film Festival, and screens this month at the London Film Festival.
- The film is set in 2012, 18 years after the genocide against the Tutsi, following Vénéranda — who helps survivors and families of those responsible speak words never said between them — until her own daughter's future becomes entangled with the past.
- "Ben'Imana" is set for a U.K. theatrical release on Feb. 19, 2027 and a U.S. release in March via Alexander, the distribution arm newly launched by producer Cameron Lamb, with MK2 handling world sales.
- The production is a majority co-production between Rwanda and Gabon with minority co-production from France, Norway and Côte d'Ivoire, shot entirely in Rwanda with a primarily Rwandan crew.
Why it matters: Rwanda is entering the international feature race for the first time with a film that already carries Cannes's Camera d'Or — a prize reserved for the strongest debut across the entire festival — and a narrative grounded in post-genocide reconciliation. The submission pairs commercial scaffolding (MK2 world sales, a Cameron Lamb-led U.S./U.K. distribution rollout) with storytelling that puts a Rwandan reckoning on the Academy's stage for the first time.
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