The Mashariki Film Festival ended on Saturday evening at Kigali City Tower (KCT) with several Rwandan filmmakers and producers emerging winners.
The event that has been ongoing for one week climaxed with awarding of the best actors and filmmakers.
Rwanda's Pacifique Iradukunda and Samuel Ishimwe Karemangingo won the best East African male actor and the best national short film categories respectively.
 
A jury of six members selected the winners after reviewing their works. Aliane Umuhire one of the judges told The New Times that most of the films at the festival were a result of workshops conducted in different countries.
"Considering that this is the first Mashariki film festival ever, I find it so impressive. This is an opportunity for East African actors to showcase their movies," she said.
She added that she would like to see more Rwandan movies scooping awards beyond the two that did this time.
Save for the Rwandans, other winners were not present to pick their prizes.
The best film-Virgem Margarida was screened at the closing ceremony . Set soon after Mozambique's independence in 1975, it focuses on Margarida - a 16-year-old girl from the countryside – who is mistaken for a prostitute on Maputo streets and is sent to rehabilitation camp to become a "new woman." Together with others, theirs is a story about women bounded by adversity.
 
Categories and Winners
 
The best East African male actor: Pacifique Iradukunda (Rwanda) for his role in the movie, Gasore.
Best East African Female Actress: Veronica Waceke (Kenya) in the movie My Faith.
Best National Short Film: Crossing Lines (2014), by Samuel Ishimwe Karemangingo, Rwanda.
Best East African Short Films: Awards went to Burundi's Evrad Niyomwungeri for the movie Majambere the Fighter, and Kenya's Bruce Makau for My Faith.
 
Best East African Documentary Film: The Springboard by Joseph Ndayisenga, Burundi.
Best East African Fiction Film: The Route by JayantMaru, Uganda.
Best Director: Francoise Ellong, W.A.K.A
Best Film: Virgem Margarida, Mozambique.