Cannes Camera d’Or-Winning ‘Ben’imana’ Director Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo Signs With CAA (EXCLUSIVE)

Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo, whose first feature as director, “Ben’imana,” took the Camera d’Or at Cannes this year, has signed with CAA. The film was named best first feature at the festival’s 2026 edition, where it also won the Fipresci Prize for the Un Certain Regard strand. It was the first film by a Rwandan director to make the Cannes Official Selection. Rwanda later chose “Ben’imana” as its first-ever entry in the best international feature race at the 99th Academy Awards, and the film has landed a best international feature nomination at the Gotham Film Awards. After Cannes, it went on to play Toronto, the BFI London Film Festival and AFI Fest. The film took 10 years to make. It is a co-production between Rwanda and Gabon, with France and Norway also on board, and 90% of its crew came from Rwanda’s local industry. MK2 is handling international sales, while Alexander has U.K. and U.S. rights. Dusabejambo was born in Kigali and grew up there. She taught herself filmmaking, joining a neighborhood collective of young filmmakers in 2008. Two years later, she came out on top in a Tribeca Film Institute screenwriting competition, which paved the way for her first short, “Lyiza.” It bowed at Tribeca in 2011 before winning the Bronze Tanit at Carthage the following year. Her later shorts, “A Place for Myself” and “Icyasha,” traveled the international festival circuit and collected a string of awards. Away from writing and directing, Dusabejambo served as an archivist on “Why We Hate,” the documentary series produced by Steven Spielberg and Alex Gibney. On “Faces We Lost,” she worked as assistant director. She remains represented by Paris-based attorney Béatrice Roig of Cabinet Béatrice Roig. For Alexander, the film doubles as the first title from its newly launched film division.