TFF: Ben'imana (R18+)

Winner, Camera d'Or, Cannes. This emotionally powerful exploration of a reconciliation process following the Rwandan genocide is one of the year's most acclaimed debuts. 

Rwanda, 2012. While some prefer to leave the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in the past, its impact is inescapable. People seek justice and reconciliation, though resistance remains. In Kibeho, survivor Veneranda attempts to bridge seemingly impossible divides between victims’ and perpetrators’ families, who still live side by side, in scenes of staggering impact. When her teenage daughter becomes pregnant, Veneranda herself is forced to confront her own past and family secrets. Amongst the struggles, Ben’Imana ultimately shows a path toward healing and peace.

Cast: Clémentine U. Nyirinkindi, Isabelle Kabano, Kesia Kelly Nishimwe, Leocadie Uwabeza

Director: Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo

"a searing and intimate portrait of a nation’s reckoning ... Ben’Imana contains whole worlds in one very specific here-and-now." HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

"one of the most arresting, viscerally alive and profoundly humane African debuts to have appeared at [the Cannes] festival in a generation." INTERNATIONAL CINEPHILE SOCIETY