Joël Karekezi
Joël Karekezi | |
|---|---|
 Karekezi in 2012 | |
| Born | Karekezi Joël 12 December 1985 Rubavu, Rwanda |
| Education | Maisha Film Lab |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 2009–present |
Joël Karekezi (born 12 December 1985) is a Rwandan screenwriter, film director and film producer. His films, such as Imbabazi: The Pardon (2013) and The Mercy of the Jungle (2018), often deal with issues of conflict and war, alongside the possibility of forgiveness and hope. The Mercy of the Jungle's awards include FESPACO's the Etalon d’Or de Yennenga, Best Film and Best Actor at the Africa Movie Academy Awards, Best Screenplay at the Khouribga African Film Festival, and the Jury's Best Feature Narrative Award at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF).
Early life and education
[edit]Karekezi was born in Rubavu, Rwanda on 12 December 1985. One of three siblings, he has a brother and a sister.[1] He is a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis during which his father was killed. He subsequently took refuge in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).[2]
He studied Biology and Chemistry for three years at the Kigali Institute of Education (since renamed The University of Rwanda-College of Education),[3] and then went on to study filmmaking through Cinécours, a Canadian online film school where he received a diploma in Film Directing in 2008.[4][1] In 2009 he attended a screenwriting course at the Maisha Film Lab in Uganda, where he wrote the screenplay for what would become his first film, The Pardon.[5][6]
Career
[edit]In 2010 Karekezi directed his first film, The Pardon, from a script developed at the Maisha Film Lab. The short film follows Manzi upon his release from prison after 15 years, and his coming to terms with having murdered his best friend's family during the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis. The film won The Golden Impala award at Amakula Film Festival in Uganda and the Best Short Film at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival.[7] It screened at various festivals, including the Durban International Film Festival, the Zanzibar International Film Festival, the Images That Matter Short Film Festival in Ethiopia, and the Kenya International Film Festival.
Karekezi went on to direct Imbabazi: the Pardon an expanded, feature film version of the The Pardon that was released in 2013.[8] The director said of his inspiration in making The Pardon and its follow on version: “I asked myself: If I ever meet the person who killed my father: would I be able to forgive him?” So I started writing a script to try to understand the need for forgiveness and how it can happen, how this step can be taken. With the short film, I could bring this idea to life, but I needed to take this reflection even further [with my feature film]. [9] Imbabazi was winner of Nile Grand Prize at the 2014 Luxor African Film Festival.[10]
In 2018 Karekezi's second feature, The Mercy of the Jungle, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The story follows two Rwandan soldiers separated from their military unit at the beginning of the Second Congo War and their struggle to survive in a hostile jungle environment amidst intense armed conflict. The film went on to secure numerous awards including in 2019, the Etalon d’Or de Yennenga, the top prize at FESPACO and Best Film at the Africa Movie Academy Awards.
In 2023 it was announced that Karekezi was attached as scriptwriter to Bisesero: A Daughter’s Story about a little known but true story of a civilian resistance group who fought for months to survive the Genocide against the Tutsi. He is co-writer with the Nigerian filmmaker Ema Edosio-Deelen who is slated to direct the feature film.[11][12]
Since 2023, Karekezi has been developing Capitaine Mbaye, a Rwanda, Belgium, France and Senegal co-production that he is to direct and wrote the script for. Set in the early 1990s, the story follows the real-life Senegalese Captain Mbaye Diagne who is deployed to Kigali as UN observer in the midst of its ethnic civil war. Against the orders of his superiors, he repeatedly puts his life in danger to save lives when the massacres of the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis begin.[13] Organizations that have contributed to the funding of the project include the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF), the Red Sea Fund, and the Film and Audiovisual Industry Promotion Fund (FOPICA) from Senegal's Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.[14][15][16]
Karekezi's film credits also include Survivor from 2010.[17]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | Ref(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | ||||
| 2009 | The Pardon | Yes | Yes | Short film | ||
| 2013 | Imbabazi: The Pardon | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2018 | The Mercy of the Jungle | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
References
[edit]- ^ a b "RFF 2013 : Joel Karekezi parle de la situation du cinéma rwandais". L'Afrique en films (in French). Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "Joël Karekezi • Director". Cineuropa. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- ^ UR. "Historical background". ce.ur.ac.rw. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "Joel Karekezi | Neon Rouge Production". neonrouge.com. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ "Joël Karekezi • Director". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ https://www.institutfrancais.com/en/magazine/interview/joel-karekezi
- ^ 1. Film Director, Writer & Producer. imbabazi.com. Accessed June 2014.
- ^ Rosenberg, Tal (18 October 2013). "Imbabazi: The Pardon". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "Joël Karekezi | Institut français". Institut français. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "Fiction Film Forum: Third Luxor African Film Festival – Winning Films - Imbabazi, The Pardon - Bibliotheca Alexandrina". www.bibalex.org. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (30 October 2023). "Pan-African Rwanda Genocide Drama 'Bisesero: A Daughter's Story' Sets Cast With Tracy Kababiito, Wale Ojo & Isabelle Kabano – AFM". Deadline. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ Editor, The (17 February 2025). "Eugene Boateng Joins Cast of Pan-African Feature "Bisesero: A Daughter's Story" Centred on the Rwanda Genocide - Afrocritik". Retrieved 19 April 2025.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "The Lion of Teranga". Atlas Ateliers. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "Le lion de la Teranga (Capitaine Mbaye) - Long-métrage de fiction (90) - Joël KAREKEZI(Rwanda)". www.imagesfrancophones.org. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "Accueil – FOPICA - FOPICA" (in French). 7 October 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ Tabbara2023-01-18T13:01:00+00:00, Mona. "Red Sea Fund sets 36 grant winners, including Rwanda's Joel Karekezi and Saudi Arabia's Tawfik Alzaidi". Screen. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Africiné - Survivor [real Joel KAREKEZI]". Africiné (in French). Retrieved 19 April 2025.
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