Colors of the Nile International Film Festival (CNIFF) in Addis Ababa this November

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | October 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment

The inaugural Colors of the Nile International Film Festival (CNIFF) will run in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 7-11 November 2012, introducing the best of African cinema to African audiences.

Colours of the Nile Film Festival

Tags: , abebe beyene, Abraham Haile Biru, Akin Omotoso, alain gomis, Algeria, alla verlotsky, Blue Nile Film and Television Academy, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Caroline Kamya, Cinematheque Afrique, colors of the nile international film festival, Congo, djibril diop mambety, Egypt, Ethiopia, ethiopian filmmakers association, Ghana, henry corra, Ivory Coast, karim dridi, Kenya, lance gewer, leila kilani, letebele masemola-jones, Mali, Miriam Makeba, Morocco, rwanda, Saul Williams, Senegal, solomon bekele weya, South Africa, tey, touki bouki, Tsephang Mohlomi, Tunisia, Wanuri Kahiu

First Annual East African Music Awards highlight East African genres and talent

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | August 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment

The first annual East Africa Music Awards (EMAs) was created to celebrate the different genres of music of the East African region, and reward homegrown talent. The genres that will be recognized include: Rhumba, Contemporary Gospel, Hip Hop, and Taarab, among many others. The ceremony celebrates music from the entire East African region: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Juliana - Representing Uganda

Tags: , achieng abura, alice kamande, amarauce niwizera, avril, ay, b.m.f., Bebe Cool, BURUNDI, cecile, cedric bangy, chrisian bela, christina shusho, chumba, dawit getachew, democratic republic of congo, diwani nzaro, dominique ashimwe, Dr. Claude, ehtio-colour, emmy kosgei, Ethiopia, eyob mackonen, fally ipupa, gaby, j.b. mpiana, jaguar, juliana, just family, kambua, ken wa maria, Kenya, kidum, lady jaydee, liza kamikazi, marya, masha mapenzi, Maurice Kirya, mbuvi, msondo ngoma, muhire frances, mutinda, mwana f.a., mwanza gospel choir, nef thalem assegid, Nhaitty Man, nirere shanel, P Unit, Papa Wemba, radio and weasel, rwanda, Sauti sol, sudan, Tanzania, the brothers, tshala mwana, Uganda, updendo nkone, vumilia abraham, Wahu, werason, winyo, wiseye willie, wyre

African Celebrities in the News

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | May 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment

Well, we are on the Forbes Top 10 Supermodel list…..well, maybe not us, but an African is! Candice Swanepoel of South Africa is featured on the top 10 Supermodel list. She was on the list as one of the models who has made the most from May 2010 to the present with a total of $3 million dollars. Congratulations Candice, it is difficult to remain an important part of the scene in this cutthroat market so the recognition is well-deserved.

Pierre Kayitana, coordinator of the Rwanda Cinema Center was at a reception for ‘Films Without Borders‘ where he got an audience with a Prince…..Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex. ‘Films without Borders’ aspires to inspire young people, between 15-18 years of age, to produce their own first subtitled “short” film by training them in the first stages of film production.

Tags: , candice Swanepoel, Earl of Wessex, Films without borders, Iman, Ismail al Qaisi, Omri Bezalel, Pierre Kayitana, Prince Edward, rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Thandie Newton, Zimbabwe

Gilbert Ndahayo shares his pain on screen

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | March 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment

Jamati Online: You lived in such a pivotal time in Rwanda and suffered a horror that many can’t even begin to fathom. In many interviews you talk about forgiving and forgetting, and the intricacies that are involved. How has making movies helped/not helped with this process?

Every year in April it rains in Rwanda. Rain is used metaphorically in the Rwandan proverbs such as ‘Ak’imuhana kaza imvura ihise’ (what comes from overseas arrives when the rain is over), and at the same time ‘Umugabo arigira yakwibura agapfa‘ (a man who can’t find himself dies). 2006 coincides with the re-exhumation of my parents’ bodies and those that died with them in our courtyard due to the government policy of taking the genocide victims to the nearest memorial site. Looking at the entire village coming over to my home, digging and removing the dead from the unrest grave, I was stuck. Where are the killers? Who did this to them? These were the first images I filmed.

Tags: , Gilbert Ndahayo, rwanda

Sometimes in April

Written by Shirlene Alusa-Brown | April 11, 2005 | Leave a Comment

Sometimes in April is a movie that focuses on the story of two brothers who are caught in the horror of the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in April 1994. Augustin Muganza (Idris Elba), is a Hutu married to a Tutsi and father to three, and his brother Honoré (Oris Erhuero), is a popular public figure espousing Hutu propaganda from a powerful pulpit: Radio RTLM in Rwanda. Augustine realizes that he is wearing the uniform of an oppressive government, and as he listens to the rhetoric on the radio, he realizes that the whole situation is about to explode.

As things turn violent and the Hutu army begins to slaughter the Tutsis by the thousands, Augustine decides to defy the odds and try to save his family. In a desperate attempt to survive, he is forced to entrust his wife and sons to his brother, Honoré. He barely survives and loses tracks of his family. Years later, he is still haunted by questions about his family. He visits the UN tribunal where his brother is on trial for inciting the violence on the Tutsis. It is here that he learns the about the fate of his family.

Tags: , Idris Elba, Oris Erhuero, rwanda, sometimes in April