Hot air balloon view. Rwanda film office has got a grant to support the film industry
The Rwanda Film Office has initiated a call for projects with a total budget of Rwf 184 million to support filmmakers at various stages of production, from writing to post-production.
The call for projects was announced by Rwanda Development Board (RDB), on Wednesday, September 21.
It has been made possible with the support of Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and Members of the European Union (ACP-EU).
The project targets individual filmmakers, film-related Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and production companies.
With this call, up to 26 projects will benefit from the support, which range from script–writing to post-production. The grants start from Rwf 200.000 for “pitch support” up to Rwf 30,000,000 for production and Rwf 82,500,000 for an international co-production.
Rwanda’s audio-visual sector is highly promising in terms of jobs and revenue creation.
In Africa, the sector has the potential to create 20 million jobs and contribute $20 billion to the continent’s combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) study outlined recently.
It is in this line that the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) launched the Rwanda Film Office (RFO) initiative in 2019 to centralise audio-visual and film industry services and assist audio-visual players in enhancing their operational capacities.
To fulfil the sector’s needs, this call has been designed in close consultation with filmmakers and the Rwanda Film Federation, who will also be involved in the selection process.
Joseph Birimoyezu the General Manager at Vita Media, a Rwandan media for development production company founded in 2009, commended what Rwanda Film Office is doing for filmmakers and wished that it would become a big thing that will make those in the industry reach an international level.
“It seems to me an intervention that instill optimism for the content makers, especially videographers. It sounds very ambitious to focus on all the stages of production, and the stated budgets are fine,” Birimoyezu said.
“I hope it will be a reoccurring one and maybe they will have to think of associating it with a bigger event. I would suggest a Festival in Rwanda’s name. This is a funding and an event that needs to keep on. I just hope it won’t be for one year or just a few years.”
Birimoyezu advised that the call include not only financial fund but also advices and guidance so that filmmakers be motivated to produce quality things that will compete on an international markets.
