Rwanda Enters the Oscars Race for the First Time With Ben’Imana

For the first time in its history, Rwanda has entered the Oscars race.

The country has selected Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s Ben’Imana as its official submission for the International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, making the film Rwanda’s first-ever entry in the category. 

The selection extends what has already been a significant year for Ben’Imana. Dusabejambo’s debut feature premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d’Or for best first feature and the FIPRESCI critics’ prize. It also became the first Rwandan feature to compete at Cannes.

Set in Rwanda in 2012, Ben’Imana follows Vénéranda, a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi who encourages dialogue between victims and perpetrators’ families. But when her daughter becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she is forced to confront the limits of the forgiveness she has spent years asking of others.

After Cannes, the film made its North American debut at TIFF and is also screening at the BFI London Film Festival. Alexander will release it theatrically in the UK on February 19, 2027, followed by a US release in March, while MK2 Films handles international sales.

Ben’Imana is a majority Rwanda-Gabon co-production, with France, Norway and Côte d’Ivoire as minority partners. Filmed entirely in Rwanda with a predominantly Rwandan crew, the film combines a strong local production base with international financing.

Its route to this point also began well before Cannes.

Ben’Imana was among the fiction projects selected for the Durban FilmMart’s Pitch and Finance programme in 2024, with producer Samantha Biffot and Dusabejambo presenting the project while it was still in development. Two years later, Biffot is returning to the market for a case study on how the film moved from development through an international co-production involving five countries and eventually to Cannes.

That journey makes Rwanda’s first Oscar entry notable beyond the submission itself. Ben’Imana has moved through several layers of the independent film ecosystem, from African development and international co-production to Cannes, festival awards, global sales and theatrical distribution.

The submission is still only the first stage of the Academy process. Ben’Imana has not been nominated for an Oscar; it now joins the international features submitted by countries around the world, from which the Academy will select a shortlist before naming the final nominees.

For Rwanda, however, the entry already marks a first, and for Ben’Imana, another milestone in a journey from developing African project to international recognition.