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Rwandan Film Students Learn From American Documentary Filmmaker

On July 6 and 7, 2009, the Public Affairs Office of the United States of America in Kigali hosted a two-day documentary film workshop that was held in collaboration with the Rwanda Cinema Center.  The workshop targeted 30 emerging filmmakers from Rwanda.

Workshop participants learned new skills that will help them produce documentary films through teamwork. They also received instructions on pre-production planning, cinematography, editing and were educated on various methods of shaping ideas into a cinematic context.

Documentary filmmaker and film professor Karen Kramer, who conducted the sessions, said that the workshop was designed to teach participants how to produce high quality films using modern techniques and cinematic language. Each session of the workshop began with a screening of a documentary film produced by Ms. Kramer followed by a discussion.  The lively discussion sessions allowed the exchange of ideas and the opportunity for the students to learn new techniques in documentary film making.

Participants expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to learn the latest documentary filmmaking techniques. The workshop was sponsored by the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy and all the students participating were from the Rwanda Cinema Center which hosts a Film Institute created to support and promote alternative and independent film works with low budgets from all around the country.  It was aimed at encouraging young Rwandan talents to tell their stories and express their ideas through documentary filmmaking.

Karen Kramer has been a documentary filmmaker since 1978, when her groundbreaking film about a small snake handling church in Appalachia was released to widespread acclaim. Since then, she has independently produced a dozen other films about rituals, traditions, and communities around the globe, including such award-winning documentaries as The Jolo Serpent Handlers, Legacy of the Spirits, To Serve the Gods, The Last of the New York Cigar Rollers, Rice and Peas, Coney Island Mermaid, Celebration, Days of Awe, Haitian Song, Moko Jumbie, Breaking Leaves, Children of Shadows, and The Ballad of Greenwich Village. Her films have been seen worldwide in over 50 countries on six continents.

Karen Kramer speaking to the participants

U.S. Ambassador speaking to participants