How to choose a documentary production company in Rwanda

A promotional video tells people what an organisation does. A documentary shows what changed, through the people who lived it. That difference shapes everything: the research, the interviews and the edit.

If your goal is to show evidence of impact to donors, partners or the public, you need a team that is comfortable with real situations, not scripted ones.

The strongest films come from good preparation. Ask how the company will research the story, which communities and partners it will meet, and how it will secure access before filming begins.

A team that knows the country, its languages and its institutions will find stronger stories and avoid wasted days.

Every identifiable person should know why they are being filmed and agree in writing. Ask whether consent forms are available in Kinyarwanda and English, and how the team protects children and vulnerable people.

People in a documentary should be shown with dignity and in their own words. Avoid any team that stages scenes or asks participants to act out their lives.

To film a documentary in public in Rwanda, you need a photography and video shooting permit, which you apply for on Irembo and which takes about four days. Drones need separate approval from the Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority, and local authorities may ask for other permissions on the day. A good production partner plans these steps early.¹²

Many of the strongest voices speak Kinyarwanda. Ask how interviews will be conducted, who will translate, and how subtitles will be checked for accuracy. A mistranslated subtitle can undermine a whole film.

Agree the deliverables before filming starts. Most organisations need more than one version of a film.

• A main film of three to eight minutes
• A short version of about 90 seconds for events and social media
• Vertical cut-downs for mobile platforms
• Subtitled versions in the languages of your audiences
• A set of still photographs from the same shoot

In our experience, a short documentary takes four to eight weeks from brief to final delivery, depending on travel, the number of locations and approval rounds. The main cost drivers are research days, filming days, crew size, travel and editing time.