Jean Luc Mitana

Founder & CEO

Jean Luc Mitana is a Rwandan film director and cinematographer. After studying journalism and communication, Jean Luc started his career in 2006 by joining the Almond Tree Films Collective where he worked on Lee Isaac Chung ́s first feature film,  ́Munyurangabo ́. Jean Luc has worked on various international and local projects, including award winning films from Marie Clementine Dusabejambo, Joel Karekezi, Kivu Ruhorahoza, and Yves M. Niyongabo. He has directed multiple shorts, including his first short film Saa-Ipo, funded by Tribeca Film Institute in 2010. Between 2013 and 2016, Jean Luc worked as a media producer for the NGO Plan international and was in charge of teaching production to children in refugee camps in Rwanda, helping them produce short videos on gender-based violence, child protection and early childhood development later screened during mobile cinema events in the refugee camps. Jean Luc Mitana also worked on  ́Teacher self-learning academy ́ funded by DFID, where he produced over 200 videos that were uploaded on electronic devices by teachers who could not access internet in rural Rwanda. In 2014, Jean Luc filmed  ́City drop out ́, a short film by Aime Philbert Mbabazi. The same year he attended Berlinale Talent Campus for a post production workshop as well  ́Produire au Sud ́ workshop, a film pitch and production workshop supported by CNC and Institut francais. In 2017 he directed his first feature film,  ́Black Belgian ́, later screened at Oxford Central Africa university in London after winning the best supporting actor award in Khouribga international film festival, and then screened at Zanzibar International film festival. In 2020, Jean Luc filmed  ́Team du Rwanda cycling 2020 ́, a documentary sponsored by Team Novo Nordisk. Between 2021 and 2022, he shot a documentary about Gashora girls school called  ́She will arise Sarah’s story ́ and a documentary on the Basket Africa League. In 2023, Jean Luc directed his latest short film  UJE produced by Malia Scotch Marmo.The filmwas part of the official competition in FESPACO 2023, Khourigba international film festival Ecrans noir film festival,

Cinemas d’Afrique Lausanne, and Afrikamera international film festival.

 

The same year, Jean Luc filmed a documentary entitled  ́Rwanda’s blind reporter ́ by Samuel Ishimwe, funded by Al-Jazeera. Rangi ya Damu ́ (Color of blood), a music video by Kaya Byinshii supported by the European Union. Finally, he is running the adaptation from English to Kinyarwanda of the podcast  ́Limitless ́, a project funded by the US Department of State and Seenfire Foundation, and works on  ́Plastic surgery – a matter of life and death ́, a documentary commissioned by Operation Smile, an international health NGO.