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‘Forgiveness has to be lived out’: says Rwanda's Cannes laureat Dusabejambot
Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambot has become the first Rwandan director to win the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for her debut feature 'Ben'Imana.' The film, set against the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, explores themes of forgiveness and reconciliation, and has been supported by international film funds and co-producers.
Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambot has won the Caméra d'Or for best first feature at the Cannes Film Festival for her debut film Ben'Imana, according to reports from AllAfrica and RFI. The film premiered in the festival's Un Certain Regard section and took the top prize for a debut feature, marking a historic achievement for Rwandan cinema.
Coverage Comparison
Both AllAfrica and RFI reported the win, though with slightly different emphases. AllAfrica's coverage celebrated the film's achievement and Dusabejambot's dedication to the women who inspired it, describing the award as "prestigious." It also noted that Ben'Imana is the first film directed by a Rwandan filmmaker to screen in the festival's official selection. RFI, in an interview with the director, focused more on the film's themes of forgiveness and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda, quoting Dusabejambot extensively on her intentions.
Key Claims
Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambot won the Caméra d'Or for best first feature at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival for Ben'Imana (reported by both AllAfrica and RFI).
The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section on May 19 (reported by AllAfrica; RFI noted the section but not the date).
The film is set in Rwanda in 2012 and follows a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi (reported by AllAfrica). RFI described the film as set against the aftermath of the genocide without specifying a year.
The film explores the emotional burden of survivors and the complexities of forgiveness in post-genocide Rwanda (reported by AllAfrica). RFI highlighted the difficulty of reconciliation and healing.
Dusabejambot spent more than a decade making the film (reported by both outlets, with AllAfrica detailing her participation in international labs and support from the Berlinale World Cinema Fund and Norway's Sørfond).
The film was produced by Ejo Cine Ltd in Rwanda and Princesse M Prod in Gabon, in co-production with Les Films du Bilboquet in France and Duo Film in Norway (reported by AllAfrica).
Dusabejambot dedicated the award to the women whose stories inspired the film (reported by AllAfrica and in RFI's coverage).
Perspectives
Dusabejambot's Perspective
In her acceptance speech, Dusabejambot dedicated the award to the women of Rwanda, saying, "I wanted to make this film because I wanted to pay tribute to the women of my country. To those mothers who found the strength to remain standing with dignity, to forgive, to move forward – however imperfectly, however painfully." In an interview with RFI, she elaborated on the film's opening scene, where a woman says "I forgive," and posed questions about forgiveness as a choice and whether it must be proven. She noted that the film begins "in a world of justice where your neighbour may be your witness – or your accuser."
How each outlet told it
AllAfrica
Framing: Rwandan filmmaker makes history at Cannes — Celebratory and congratulatory
Facts Included:
Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo won the Caméra d'Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival
The film Ben'Imana premiered in the Un Certain Regard section on May 19
The film is set in Rwanda in 2012 and follows a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi
The film explores the emotional burden carried by survivors and the complexities surrounding forgiveness
Dusabejambo dedicated the award to the women whose stories inspired the film
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimMarie-Clémentine Dusabejambot won the Camera d’Or for best first feature at the Cannes film festival with Ben'Imana.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from RFI — Englishthe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe film Ben'Imana premiered in the festival's Un Certain Regard section.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from RFI — Englishthe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe film is set against the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.