Two short films with two women taking on very different challenges – one in Rwanda and another in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Queen Kalimpinya juggles her career in fashion with the high-speed world of rally driving in Rwanda. She has been a co-driver for the past three years - now she is taking hold of the steering wheel herself in her first rally race, the Mountain Gorilla Rally. ‘The Driver’ by filmmaker Mbabazi Sharangabo Philbert Aimé follows Queen on and off the road as she navigates the highs and lows of her latest challenge.
Professor Marie-Claire Yandju has worked for years to improve the health and environmental impact of cassava, a staple food in the Democratic Republic of Congo and across Africa. Congo’s colonial laws forbade the use of anything other than wheat flour for bakeries, but 2020 laws relaxed this and allowed some cassava flour to be used. Microbiologist Professor Marie-Claire’s award-winning research focusses on detoxifying cassava, improving processing techniques and developing conservation technologies, all to help combat extensive malnutrition and to survive climate change. ‘Reinventing Cassava’ by filmmaker Moimi Wezam glimpses the world of professor Marie-Claire and her students as they make and bake their cassava-based products and test them on local consumers.
