Ouagadougou, 1 March 2019
President Kagame has arrived in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso at the invitation of President Roch-Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso to attend the 26th edition of the FESPACO. The festival features Rwanda as the Guest Country.
FESPACO aims to offer African film professionals an opportunity to establish working relations, exchange ideas, and promote their work.
Speaking at a Banquet Dinner hosted in his honor, President Kagame highlighted that Africa has the power to conquer the world’s imagination and capture the strength and vulnerability of humans’ collective struggles.
“We are here to share, learn, and collaborate with the best cinematic talents on our continent. Indeed, there can be no better place for pan-African cultural exchange than FESPACO. Through cinema, Africa has the power to conquer the world’s imagination and capture the strength and vulnerability of our collective struggles, with the full dignity they deserve. We should not fail to seize this opportunity. Working together, we will continue to support our creative industry, to produce timeless and inspiring works of art, but also good quality jobs and prosperity on our continent,” President Kagame said.
Rwanda has three films presented at the festival: Icyasha by Clementine Dusabejambo (short film); Mercy of the Jungle by Joel Karekezi (feature film); and Inanga, Keepers of the Tradition by Jean-Claude Uwiringiyimana (short documentary). Rwanda is also participating through the National Ballet ‘Urukerereza’, and a stand at the Marché International du Cinéma Africain (MICA) with exhibitions on the Rwandan film industry, tourism sector, and investment. The exhibition also features a film screening and debates on the development of cinema in Rwanda.