France, May 25 -- Dusabejambo spent more than a decade making the film, which premiered in the festival's Un Certain Regard section and won the top prize for a debut feature.

Set against the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, during which 800,000 people, most of them from the Tutsi ethnic group, were massacred by Hutu militias, Ben'Imana follows a survivor working toward reconciliation and healing within her community while confronting her own painful memories.

"I wanted to pay tribute to the women of my country," Dusabejambo said during Saturday's awards ceremony. "To those mothers who found the strength to remain standing with dignity, to forgive, to move forward - however imperfectly, however painfully."

She spoke to RFI's Siegfried Fo...