Kayije Kagame, a Swiss-Rwandan actress, comedian and contemporary performer, has been selected as "Revelation" by the French Film Academy (Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma) for the Césars 2023.
The 35-year-old was nominated for her role in the film "Saint Omer", a 2022 French legal drama film directed by Alice Diop and starring Kagame and Guslagie Malanda. It is Diop's first narrative feature after working as a documentary filmmaker.
Saint Ome also featured in entries for the International Feature Film Competition at the 95th Academy Awards and was part of the film selection for the European Film Awards 2022.
Born in Geneva, Switzerland to Rwandan parents, Kayije Kagame works in the fields of contemporary art and stagecraft in Switzerland and abroad.
A graduate in acting from Ensatt National School of Arts and Techniques Du Théatre in Lyon, she attended in 2014 and 2015 the Watermill International Summer Program, founded by Robert Wilson on Long Island.
She took part in Robert Wilson's Watermill International Summer Program Residency in Long Island, United States and was also artist in residence at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.
The nomination isn't something that came easy for Kayije Kagame whose journey has been a mix of various talents.
"I have a responsibility as a storyteller, in terms of the margin of imagination I can convey as an actress. It's a matter of my political and artistic convictions. I think I waited for so long to be able to meet someone like Alice, and I'm glad I waited," she said at the nomination.
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"It's a great adventure, I'm up for it. I can't say yet how much it has changed me...but it's exciting," she added.
Kayije Kagame is a creator of numerous performances, sound pieces, films, and installation, she is currently touring with Interieur vie/ Interieur nuit (Inner Life/Inner Night) which she co-directed together with Hugo Radi.
The actress stars in Alice Diop's Saint Omer as Rama, marking her feature film debut.
In the film, Rama (Kagame) is a pregnant young novelist who attends the trial of Laurence Coly (Malanda), a Senegalese woman accused of murdering her 15-month-old child by leaving her on a beach to be swept away by the tide, in order to turn the tragic event into a literary retelling of Medea.
It is based on the 2016 French court case of Fabienne Kabou, who was convicted of the same crime. Diop attended Kabou's trial.
Saint Omer premiered in Venice where it was awarded with the Silver Lion. The film was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been invited to numerous festivals worldwide.
About the César Award
The César Award, also known as the Césars, is the national film award of France. It was delivered in the Nuit des César ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Ministry of Culture.
