The Bride

Feature | Fiction | Rwanda

Synopsis

A few years after the genocide against the Tutsi, a young woman named Eva dreams of attending medical school. But then she is abducted by a group of men, which later turns out to be part of a traditional marriage rite called Guterura. Feeling abandoned by her conservative aunts, who push her to accept her new situation, Eva now has to come to terms with her new reality, sharing a household with her unwanted husband Silas and his cousin, with whom she develops a deep and affectionate friendship. Eva grows closer and closer to Silas’s cousin. While making tea, doing each other’s hair and making bags out of beads, they start to bond. They share stories of their families and what happened to them during the genocide. When she discovers the tragic fate suffered by her husband’s family, Eva is torn between staying and running away.

Film credit

  • Director: Myriam U. Birara
  • Writer(s): Myriam U. Birara
  • Editing: Gashonga Ka Hangu
  • Sound: Didier Nors
  • Director of photography: Bora Shingiro
  • Key casrs: Jasper Wills Ebuka, Amanda Oruh, Onyinye Odokoro, Ifeanyi Okondu
  • Duration: 73′
  • Language(s): Kinyarwanda
  • Subtitle(s): English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Berlinale, Las Palmas, FNC Montréal, Khouribga, FESPACO, Innsbruck, FCAT, Mostra de Cinemas Africanos, African Film Festival Cologne and many more.

  • Jury Special Mention – Berlinale (Best First Feature – GWFF)
  • Silver Lady Harimaguada de Plata & CIMA Award – Las Palmas
  • Best Actress & Special Mention – FNC Montréal
  • Best Feature & Best Director – Novos Cinemas
  • Grand Prize Sembene & Critics’ Prize – Khouribga
  • Special Mentions – Innsbruck
  • Special award at FESPACO 2025

For festivals and other screenings inquiries please send us an email to: festival(at)hikigali.com.