Rwanda Makes First Oscar Entry With Cannes Winner Ben'Imana — SkimNews
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- Rwanda selected director Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo's post-genocide drama Ben'Imana as its first-ever entry in the Academy Awards' Best International Feature Film category.
- Ben'Imana clinched the Caméra d'Or for Best First Film and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section and has since premiered at TIFF, with its UK bow set for the BFI London Film Festival this month.
- Alexander, the independent media company of film producer Cameron Lamb, acquired English-speaking rights to Ben'Imana in September as the inaugural acquisition of its new distribution division.
- Alexander will release the film theatrically in the UK on February 19, 2027, followed by a US release from March 2027, while world sales are handled by Paris-based mk2 films.
- The film is set in 2012, eighteen years after the genocide against the Tutsi, following protagonist Vénéranda as she helps survivors and perpetrators exchange unspoken words of reconciliation.
- Ben'Imana is a majority Rwanda-Gabon co-production with minority partners France, Norway, and Côte d'Ivoire, shot entirely on location in Rwanda with a primarily Rwandan crew and an original score by Rwandan singer-songwriter Igor Mabano.
Why it matters: Rwanda enters the Best International Feature Film race for the first time ever, pairing a Cannes double-prize winner with a U.S./UK rollout from a brand-new distribution division at Alexander — giving the film a real theatrical runway (UK February 19, US March 2027) that most first-time submissions from non-traditional Oscar countries never get.
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