Three films produced by IMENA Film Academy students were selected for the official competition at this year's Rwanda Film Festival — with the Cohort 2 short "Inzira / The Path" taking home the top prize for narrative short film.
The award ceremony, held on April 28th at the Kigali Cultural Centre, marked the most significant public recognition yet for IMENA Film Academy since its founding in 2022. Director Amina Uwase accepted the award on behalf of her Cohort 2 crew to a standing ovation from the audience.
Speaking after the ceremony, IMENA Founder and Director Kalisa Emmanuel called the recognition a "validation of every early-morning shoot and late-night edit session" the students had committed to during their training.
"We didn't come to the festival expecting to win anything. We came because we believed in the film. The fact that others believe in it too — that is everything."
— Amina Uwase, Director of Inzira / The PathThe Three Competing Films
IMENA's three competition entries represented the strongest single-cohort showing in the festival's history. Each film was produced entirely by students during their training program — written, shot, edited, and mixed in-house at the IMENA campus in Kicukiro.
The IMENA cohort at the Rwanda Film Festival screening. Photo: IMENAFF / Rwanda Film Center
What This Means for Rwandan Cinema
The Rwanda Film Festival is the country's most prestigious platform for domestic and pan-African cinema, drawing industry professionals, distributors, and international guests each year. Competition in the short film category included submissions from Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa — making IMENA's three selections particularly notable.
For the academy, the recognition goes beyond a trophy. It is evidence that the model works: that intensive, practically focused training — even for students with zero prior experience — can produce work that stands up on an international stage within one to two years.
Rwanda Film Center Director Claudette Uwera called IMENA's cohort "the most exciting development in Rwandan film education in a decade," adding that the Center would be exploring a formal partnership with the academy later in the year.
"These students are proof that the talent has always been here. All it needed was the right environment to grow."
— Kalisa Emmanuel, Founder, IMENA Film AcademyApply for Intake 2025
IMENA Film Academy is now accepting applications for Intake 2025. Only 20 spaces are available across six programs: Directing, Screenwriting, Editing, Cinematography, Sound Recording, and 3D Animation & VFX. Applications close when spaces are filled.
Only 6 spaces remain for Intake 2025.
