Eliane Umuhire

Eliane Umuhire (born 1986) is a French-Rwandan actress. She is known for her breakthrough role in the Polish film Birds Are Singing in Kigali, for which she won several Best Actress awards at various festivals. Other notable performances include in the 2021 Afrofuturist film Neptune Frost and the 2024 film A Quiet Place: Day One, as Zena.

Early life and education Eliane Umuhire was born in Kigali, Rwanda in 1986. She also did some acting on stage there in 2005. ) with Hope Azeda, and at Ishyo Arts Center with Carole Karemera.

Career Umuhire is an actress, dancer, director, and producer. and Variety. and won her Best Actress awards at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival, the Polish Film Festival, and others. as one of four women hiding during the 1994 genocide. The film had its Rwandan premiere in Kigali on 28 June 2024.

Her role in the BAFTA-nominated short film Bazigaga, directed by Jo Ingabire Moys, earned her acting awards at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur.

On television, Umuhire appeared in the series Nina and the Pig (La fille au coeur de cochon; 2022), created and directed by David Andre, and Haven of Grace (De Grâce), broadcast on Arte in 2023.

Stage In 2012, Umuhire appeared in the plays La ravizor, Umutego Speciale, and African Hope. The two had a residency together at the French Institute in Bucharest, Romania, in April 2021.

Other activities In 2024 Umuhire returned to Rwanda to give an actors' workshop at the Kigali Cine Junction film festival

Also in 2024, Umuhire was a member of the 63rd Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography 2012: Behind the Word, 2017: Best Actress at the Polish Film Festival 2018: Elzbieta Czyzewska award for best performance, at the New York Polish Film Festival 2018: Urania Award for Best Performance in a Leading Role at the Let's CEE Film Festival in Vienna, Austria 2021: Best Ensemble Cast, Trees of Peace, at the Rising Sun International Film Festival 2022: Best performance award, Namur International Francophone Films Festival 2023: Best Actress at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, for Bazigaga