Los Angeles, Cali. (Feb. 5, 2024) –
As a child of Rwandan refugees, Divine Mugisha
has been living in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp since she was nine months old. Extreme poverty, hunger, and mental health challenges plague the camp. Despite facing these hardships herself, Divine advocates for education access and mental health services for her refugee community.
As a young advocate, she founded the Supportive Pillar Organization (SPO) to help youth stay in school. During the development of SPO, she discovered that mental health issues were a serious obstacle preventing people in the camp from continuing their education. Divine realizes that she must now leave her lifelong home, friends, and family to pursue her own education so that she can better address the tragic mental health issues at the camp.
The powerful documentary short "A Divine Journey" follows Divine through her
personal journey volunteering, teaching and serving others as she aspires for higher
education and awaits acceptance to university.
The world premiere of “A Divine Journey" will be at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) in Los Angeles on Feb. 10, 2024 at Cinemark Baldwin Hills Crenshaw.
The story examines how an underserved yet dedicated and determined young woman
can change the world for many. Audiences will witness a passionate young woman
who defies the odds and rises above her hardships as she starts a non-profit cause
and serves her community at Dzaleka refugee camp.
The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) showcases a broad array of Black creative works from the world over, highlighting those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. The festival spotlights over 200 films elevated by black filmmakers with subject matter by African talent, telling stories about Africans and people with African descent.
“We work to produce documentaries that spotlight positive stories from Africa,” said
Ivanovitch Ingabire, Burundi based co-director of ”A Divine Journey.”
"I am honored and proud to bring Divine's inspiring journey to the Pan African Film
Festival," said Annette King, the producer and co-director of the documentary from
Splicer Films. “We see this as an opportunity to uplift an inspiring yet underrepresented story about a young African changemaker solving issues at a grassroots level. By telling Divine’s inspirational story, we aim to foster resilience,
compassion, and empowerment to bring about change in the world around us”
"A Divine Journey" will screen at the upcoming Pan African Film Festival, along with other films including narrative short film "Kingdom On The Coast" and the comedy special "We're Pregnant and Other Lies". All three films are directed by African filmmakers and talent that come from diverse backgrounds who aim to share diverse
stories of underrepresented groups from new perspectives.
Pan African Film Festival(PAFF) is the largest and most prestigious Black film festival in the United States. From 100 million dollar blockbuster premieres to newly emerging Hollywood talent, PAFF showcases a broad array of Black creative works from the world over, highlighting those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. PAFF is a unique opportunity to come together through film and
art to explore new worlds, meet new people and acquire new information and ideas.
For more information, visit: bit.ly/paff-2024
For more information on the the cause in the film, visit Supportive Pillar Organization
(SPO) website: https://www.supportivepillarorganisation.org/
About Splicer Films:
Splicer Films is a Palo Alto based production company focused on telling stories of purpose and impact that inspire audiences to create a better world. https://www.splicerfilms.com/
Additional Films by Splicer Films:
Additional documentaries by Palo Alto based Impact Producer, Annette King are
"Finding Ubuntu" and “Fear Not”.
“Finding Ubuntu” follows the inspiring journey of Maick Mutej, a refugee who emerges as a human rights advocate for thousands of refugees.Maick's story exemplifies resilience, compassion, and the transformative impact of community based organizations.
“Fear Not” explores a passionate grassroots changemaker, Evelyne Keomian, in her
quest to break the cycle of poverty through education for her communities in Côte
d'Ivoire and Silicon Valley.
For more information about Splicer Films event screenings, visit: bit.ly/SFFESTS