(Joel
Karekezi (right) accepts his award of 5000 Euros from CFI's Etienne Fiatte
(centre) and Namibian Broadcasting Corporation's Audrin Mathe)
Imbabazi:
the Pardon, which was one of the officially
selected projects in the 2011 Durban FilmMart (DFM), a joint programme of the
Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF),
recently enjoyed its World Premiere at the Gotebord Film Festival in Sweden and
has been snapped up by two other major international film festivals.
Produced and directed by Rwandan film-maker
Joel Karekezi, Imbabazi: the Pardon was
one of the features that was selected for the 2011 Durban FilmMart, where the
film was also awarded the CineMart Rotterdam Lab Award at the DFM, which
provided the up and coming producer with accreditation, accommodation and
transportation to attend the Lab, an incubator for producers of new projects
which ran concurrently with the 2012 International Film Festival of Rotterdam.
Imbabazi:
the Pardon had its USA premiere at the San Diego
Black Film Festival in January and this month will enjoy its Los Angeles
premiere at the prestigious Pan-African Film Festival.
Clearly, Karekezi is a young film-maker to
watch. With a diploma in film directing from Cinecours Canada, he has fast
garnered accolades, awards and notice for his work. In 2010 his short film The Pardon won the best short film award
at Silicon Valley African Film Festival (SVAFF), California. In 2012 he had a
second project, The Mercy of the Jungle,
in the DFM, which was awarded the Canal France International (CFI) Award for
the Most Promising Project with a prize of 5000 Euros.
Imbabazi:
the Pardon tells the story of the Tutsi Genocide
through the friendship and separation of two protagonists and carries a deep
reconciliation message.
“As an African and Rwandan director, I am
proud to have helped bring this story to a wider audience,” explains Karekezi,
who is himself a genocide survivor. “I was honoured to work together with my
team through pre-production, production and post-production to bring this story
to life. I hope that audiences will embrace the message of hope and forgiveness
that is at the heart of the film.”
“Over the past three years, we have seen
how the Durban FilmMart has provided important stepping blocks for film
projects.” says Toni Monty, of the Durban Film Office. “The process of creating
film is long and arduous, and it is vital that emerging film-makers and
projects are given the creative space to be able to develop their ideas and
vision in the right kind of environment. Joel has clearly grasped at all the
opportunities presented to him to develop this film. So we are truly pleased to
see this, one of our selected projects, make it through to multi-festival
festival releases. ”
The 4th edition of Durban FilmMart takes
place from July 19 to 22 during the Durban International Film Festival (July 18
to 28). For more information email: info@durbanfilmmart.com
or visit www.durbanfilmmart.com
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