Hillywood and Beyond: Forms of Spectatorship and Screen Worlds in Rwanda
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Published:April 2025
Screen worlds, specifically theatrical screen worlds, are layered spaces of participation and consumption. In Rwanda, they are part of broader considerations and public discourses around commemoration, knowledge production, and perceptions of class status and propriety. Through participant observation and oral interviews, this chapter explores Rwandan audiences’ engagement with different types of screens and screening environments in the recent past, including the Rwanda Film Festival's Hillywood mobile cinema screenings. Considering festival screenings in conjunction with nonfestival theatrical screen worlds, including small-scale city cinemas and agasobanuye VJ (veejay, or video jockey) translations and adaptations, illustrates the importance of placing screen worlds within spatial, historical, and political specificities. The chapter highlights the degrees of variation, audience preference, and social perceptions of theatrical-spectatorial spaces within Rwanda’s ever-growing and ever-changing variety of screen environments.