{"id":55611,"date":"2025-09-14T10:50:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T10:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/film-stars-to-win-cars-as-mashariki-african-film-festival-returns-with-a-new\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T10:49:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T10:49:27","slug":"film-stars-to-win-cars-as-mashariki-african-film-festival-returns-with-a-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/film-stars-to-win-cars-as-mashariki-african-film-festival-returns-with-a-new\/","title":{"rendered":"Film stars to win cars as Mashariki African Film Festival returns with a new look"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Scheduled for 22\u201329 November 2025 in Kigali, the festival is also expanding beyond the capital, with activities lined up in different provinces. More than 160 nominees are in the running across 23 categories, selected through the Iziwacu Cinema programme.<\/p>\n<p>Festival CEO and founder Tr\u00e9sor Senga said the changes were designed to push the event to new heights and give more value to the individuals behind Rwanda\u2019s fast-growing film industry. <\/p>\n<p>Alongside the new car prizes for the People\u2019s Choice categories, the festival has introduced a slot for film technicians, shining a spotlight on often-overlooked creatives. Winners in most categories will be picked by a jury, but fans will have their say through online voting, which opens on Monday, September 15. Voters will even get 20% of their money back for each vote cast.<\/p>\n<p>Among the actors vying for Best Actor (People\u2019s Choice) are familiar names such as Mugisha Emmanuel, a.k.a. Kibonge (Deceiver), Benimana Ramadhan, better known as Bamenya (Bamenya Series), and Niyitegeka Gratien, popularly known as Papa Sava. On the actresses\u2019 side, contenders include Mumararungu Joyeuse (Micky in Igihome), Dusenge Clenia (Madedeli in Papa Sava), and Irakoze Ariane Vanessa, who fans know as Kate\/Maya in Hurts Harder.<\/p>\n<p>The week-long event will also feature Mashariki Market, a three-day industry forum expected to draw more than 500 film representatives from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and across Africa. For local creatives, it\u2019s a chance to plug into international networks through platforms like Mashariki Residence and Mashariki Academy.<\/p>\n<p>But the festival isn\u2019t just about red carpets and awards. This year, film stars will tour five districts across Rwanda to connect with audiences, showcase their work, and take part in community service.<\/p>\n<p>With bigger prizes, fresh categories, and wider reach, Mashariki African Film Festival 2025 promises to be its most exciting edition yet.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-94376 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/mashariki_film_festival.jpg\" alt=\"Key figures from the film industry recently met with the organisers of the festival.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-94374 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/mashariki_new.jpg\" alt=\"Tr\u00e9sor Senga, CEO and co-founder of the Mashariki African Film Festival, met with various film industry stakeholders to discuss the festival\u2019s new journey this year.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-94375 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/mashariki_new_2.jpg\" alt=\"Festival CEO and founder Tr\u00e9sor Senga said the changes were designed to push the event to new heights and give more value to the people behind Rwanda\u2019s fast-growing film industry. \" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Mashariki African Film Festival is set to make a grand return in November for its 11th edition, with a twist. For the first time, two cars will be awarded to the most popular actor and actress, marking a major shift in how the festival recognises local talent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000094377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-55611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000094377,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mashariki_new_film.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mashariki_new_film.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mashariki_new_film.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mashariki_new_film.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mashariki_new_film.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/mashariki_new_film.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000094377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55611"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=55611"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=55611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}