Aminah Rwimo

An artist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she lived in the Kakuma camp in Kenya from when she was a teenager until her recent move to Germany. A TEDx speaker and a co-founder of Exile Key Films, a production company based in Kakuma, she uses the power of film to tell refugee stories. She tackles difficult issues affecting women, addressing the physical and emotional impact of displacement and violence.

Leaving everything behind to start a new life in a new country as a teenager wasn’t easy at all. I was lost. I would never have imagined one day I would wake up and find myself in a small tent, all alone. Looking around me in the camp and realising that I had nobody left, no family, no brother, no sister, or a place to call home I decided to become stronger for myself and build a new life…
One day I saw an announcement that FilmAid was looking for people who would like to join their filmmaking training programme.
When I enrolled, I thought I would fulfil my dream of becoming an actor, but during the class I realised that I had finally found a way to stand for those women I met in the camp and become their voice.
In 2015, I wrote, directed and acted in my first short documentary called Homeland Misery Life. The film has won the award for the Best Director at a film festival. I wanted to set an example and tell my fellow survivors that whatever happened to us is now part of our lives. But this is not the end.