THEME "Woman: Pillar of Cinema".

Merriam Webster defines a pillar as "a firm upright support for a superstructure" and the festival defines today a woman as "a firm upright support for cinema." What if the contribution of women lacks in making films? Will cinema survive once women are taken apart? Will cinema stay be a superstructure once women are excluded? Those are some of the key questions the URUSARO IWFF tries to answer in a most practical way.

ACTIVITIES
Film screening of film

The concepts
The word "URUSARO" is a Kinyarwanda word and refers to "pearl" in English. It's neither any pearl (ISARO) nor a small pearl (AGASARO), but a strong, beautiful and splendid one, that bears positivity and attraction. A "Festival" supposes a remarkable demonstration, a cultural exhibition, an organized series of events, and a periodic celebration in honor/memory of a culture by the community. The two words highlight it all. We celebrate, on a periodic basis, the place and contribution of a woman in cinema for the benefit of the society and gender equality.

Previous Editions
The first edition of the URUSARO IWFF took place in December 2015. It was marked by a starting point of a new and long journey. It was made by different categories of celebrations most especially by awarding actors and actresses, directors on national short fiction, national documentary and a particular recognition to filmmakers who have decided to create a kind of "mini-market" for local films; and so was the second edition that took place in March 2017.

Third Edition
It was organized in March 2018, with the presence of Pauline MVELE, a woman filmmaker from Gabon and Maimouna NDIAYE, an actress from Burkina Faso. They contributed to increase the capacity of Rwandan women filmmaker in sharing about their careers and driving workshops to increase motivation and technical skills. Films were screened in different venues and the attendance to the screenings showed that we still have to work hard to interest more the audience.