Gisa goes to the village of Nkora, native to his mother who disappeared during the genocide. He finds himself in the midst of a family conflict over the fate of the ruins of a house his mother had built. Caught between the contradictions of a changing society, Gisa, who is almost the same age as the new Rwanda, seeks to rediscover his share of the collective memory of a past that belongs to him, but also so far away.

A film by Samuel Ishimwe

Switzerland / Rwanda, 2017, Fiction, 36 min · DCP, Colour, Kinyarwanda

starring Moses Mwizerwa, Kijyana Yves, Nyirababikira Hadidja

NOTE BY THE PROGRAMMER
‘My mum left me when I was a baby, she never saw a celebration, and she'll never see one. Oh generation of god.' In Kinyarwanda ‘Imfura' means first-born, the noble one, gentleman. Gisa, a young man, travels to his mother's village. He never got to know her, since she disappeared in the genocide. Gisa wants to comprehend, to remember, so he meets those who remain. Much has changed. Various chants and rituals guide him in his search. The memory is inside him, the midwife says, has always been with him. He is not alone. He is alone however when he is suddenly forced to choose a position in a fight over an inheritance, a shell of a house. The ruins represent the visible remains of the genocide.
The film's hybrid form, its fusion of documentary and staged material, gives it a great sense of immediacy. Imfura is the first Rwandan production to be included in the competition of Berlinale Shorts.
Maike Mia Höhne (Berlinale 2018)

Written and directed by
Samuel Ishimwe

Director of Photography
Samuel Ishimwe

Editing
Samuel Ishimwe

Sound Design
Samuel Ishimwe

Sound
Eugène Safali

Sound Mixer
Phillipe Ciompi

Lighting:
Audace Irafasha

Producers
Daniel Schweizer, Jean Perret, Samuel Ishimwe

Co-production
Imitana Productions, Kigali, Ruanda

Produced by
Haute école d'art et de design (HEAD) - Genève
Genf, Switzerland
+41 22 3885800
cinema.head@hesge.ch
head.hesge.ch/cinema/

World sales
Haute école d'art et de design (HEAD) - Genève
Genf, Switzerland
+41 22 3885800
cinema.head@hesge.ch
head.hesge.ch/cinema/


2018 | 68th Berlinale, Germany
* Selection - competition of Berlinale Shorts
* World Premiere / Première Mondiale
* Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film)
www.berlinale.de/en/programm/berlinale_programm/datenblatt.php?film_id=201819516

________

DE

„My mum left me when I was a baby, she never saw a celebration, and she'll never see one. Oh generation of god."„Imfura"bedeutet auf Kinyarwanda der Erstgeborene, der Edle, der Gentleman. Ein junger Mann, Gisa, fährt in das Dorf seiner Mutter. Seine Mutter hat er nie kennengelernt, weil sie im Genozid verschwunden ist. Gisa will verstehen, sich erinnern und trifft sich mit denen, die geblieben sind. Vieles hat sich verändert. Verschiedenste Gesänge und Rituale leiten ihn bei seiner Suche. Die Erinnerung, sagt ihm die Hebamme, ist in ihm, schon immer mit ihm. Er ist nicht alleine. Alleine ist er, wenn es auf einmal darum geht im Streit um das Erbe einer Hausruine, Position zu ergreifen. Die Ruine repräsentiert die sichtbaren Überreste des Genozids.
Die hybride Form des Films, die Verquickung von dokumentarischem und inszeniertem Material, macht seine Unmittelbarkeit aus. Imfura ist die erste ruandische Produktion im Wettbewerb der Berlinale Shorts.
Maike Mia Höhne (Berlinale 2018)

Ein Film von Samuel Ishimwe

Schweiz / Ruanda 2018, Kurtz Spielfilm, 36 Min · DCP, Farbe, Kinyarwanda

Mit Moses Mwizerwa, Kijyana Yves, Nyirababikira Hadidja

Regie, Buch
Samuel Ishimwe

Kamera
Samuel Ishimwe

Montage
Samuel Ishimwe

Sound Design
Samuel Ishimwe

Ton
Eugène Safali

Mischung
Phillipe Ciompi

Lighting:
Audace Irafasha

Produzenten
Daniel Schweizer, Jean Perret, Samuel Ishimwe

Mit
Moses Mwizerwa (Gisa)
Kijyana Yves (Gahigi)
Nyirababikira Hadidja (Seraphina)

Produktion
Haute école d'art et de design (HEAD) - Genève
Genf, Schweiz
+41 22 3885800
cinema.head@hesge.ch
head.hesge.ch/cinema/

Co-Produktion
Imitana Productions, Kigali, Ruanda

Weltvertrieb
Haute école d'art et de design (HEAD) - Genève
Genf, Schweiz
+41 22 3885800
cinema.head@hesge.ch
head.hesge.ch/cinema/

2018 | Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin
* Selection - Wettbewerb der Berlinale Shorts
* Preisträgerfilme der Berlinale Shorts: Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film)
www.berlinale.de/de/programm/berlinale_programm/datenblatt.php?film_id=201819516

Summary for official catalogues