Ben'Imana
In Rwanda, 2012, Vénéranda helps survivors and perpetrators’ families face one another in community trials for justice and reconciliation. Then her daughter becomes unexpectedly pregnant. As testimonies reopen old wounds, Vénéranda’s carefully held convictions begin to crack, forcing her to confront a past she has spent years helping others survive.
Genocide survivor Vénéranda publicly forgives a man accused of murdering members of her family. She has made reconciliation her mission, bringing survivors together with perpetrators’ families to speak about what happened. But at home, her world begins to unravel when she finds out that her teenage daughter Tina is pregnant. The woman who asks others to forgive suddenly finds forgiveness much harder when the past enters her family.
With this fascinating film that won the 2026 Caméra d’Or (best debut feature) at the Cannes Film Festival, and became the first ever film submitted by Rwanda to the Oscars, Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo pays tribute to Rwandan mothers and to the imperfect, painful process of moving forward.