The second Kigali Audio-Visual Forum ended on a high note today as the industry’s stakeholders agreed to work together to enable the budding sector to grow faster.

The two-day forum attracted over 500 content creators, actors, distributors, film bodies, policy makers, regulators and investors from Africa, Europe and the United States.

Held under the theme, ‘Tapping into the potential of Africa’s creative industries’, the industry professionals who gathered in Kigali, took part and contributed in knowledge sharing plenary sessions and breakaway pitching sessions.

Key among the commitments made to ensure sustainable growth of the sector include;

1. The development of technical and creative skills which will not only improve the quality of content, but also become valuable assets for countries that are keen to tap into audio visual sector and film tourism industry as a whole;
2. Improvement on the strategies for content sales and distribution or creation of distribution networks;
3. Raising awareness on the importance of Intellectual Property and knowledge of copyright laws;
4. Investment in audio-visual infrastructure.

Speaking while delivering his closing remarks, Richard Kayibanda, the Rwanda Development Board’s (RDB) Registrar General said:

“Rwanda recognizes the Audio-Visual sector as one of the fastest growing sectors of all creative industries with a promising niche market for film tourism and culture development. This year’s Kigali Audio-Visual Forum has been nothing but special with a lot of insights and support gained. The knowledge shared during the past two days has enabled all stakeholders to deliberate tangible and valuable interventions that will help build and sustain the development of the audio visual sector.”

At the close of the forum, three Rwandan winners were selected from 25 entries for having the best pitches for their films.

• The top prize winner, Moise Ganza won a two-week Writing Residency abroad to polish his script writing skills plus 1,000 Euros for his film ‘Tears’;
• Caroline Namara was the 1^st runner up for her feature film titled ‘Karugahe’. She won a sponsorship to attend a film festival of her choice plus 500 Euros;
• Wilson Misago was the 2^nd runner up for his feature film called ‘Kawera’. He won a sponsorship to attend a film festival.

The 2019 Kigali Audio Visual Forum was organized by RDB together with the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and a range of partners that include the Rwanda Convention Bureau, Rwanda Broadcasting Agency, Canal Plus International, French Embassy to Rwanda, the European Union Delegation to Kigali and Rwanda’s national carrier, RwandAir.