"The Stairs"

" I am an African filmmaker from Rwanda. I was born in Burundi and I lived there most of my childhood. For most Africans making films is nothing but a hobby. Few are able to immerse themselves in the industry and make it a career. In my case, it was during my journey that I realized what I was made for.

In high school, my passion and obsession was studying cameras and their features. I spent nights and days trying to figure out the best way to take a photograph. I was amazed by how pictures capture people emotions. So whenever there would be a family reunion or a birthday, I got excited because it was an opportunity to capture emotions and preserve them.

During my childhood, I also started developing another passion connected to photography which was the art of moving images. That is when I started focusing more and more of my time on films. I made my first short film in March of 2008.

I began College at Wheeling Jesuit University, which is located in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was a wonderful experience because I learned that the soul of a movie resides in its story. At WJU, I majored in communications. My goal was to gain enough knowledge to learn the best ways to communicate stories about peace and love. My personal belief is that films should promote positivity.

After my sophomore year, I made the hard decision to drop out of college. The main reason I did it was that I wanted to pursue my dream and I didn't see how a college degree was going to help me get my films made. I had to do it myself and physically reach out to people so I said, "Why wait?" and left.

So far, I am proud to say that I have directed two short independent films, "The American Dream" (2015) and "The Stairs" (2016). In addition, I am working on my first feature film "Apathy", inspired by true events."