Joseph Bitamba

Joseph Bitamba is originally from Burundi, where he first worked in national television. He then passed through several internships in Belgium, France, and Burkina Faso and obtained a certificate in screenwriting at the École Internationale de Bordeaux, as well as a certificate in film production in Paris, at the Institut National de l’Audio-visuel (INA). In 2003, Joseph Bitamba moved to Toronto, where he wrote for the screen, directed, and took screenwriting and directing courses organised by the ONF in Toronto. He directed documentaries, distributed on Radio Canada, TFO, TV5, and worked as a director and journalist for TFO.

Joseph Bitamba has collaborated on several international film and research projects with different  international organisations (ONU, New York Times, Vice News, ICG, CICR, Law Group, Save the Children). He has participated in a number of festivals (Climats, Fespaco, ‘Vues d’Afrique’ in Montreal, Milan, Namur, Amiens, Nairobi, Kampala) and won several prizes. He collaborates with many TV and radios in Rwanda (Contact TV, TV Renaissance, TV10). He is a speaker on subjects of reconciliation and meditation when time permits, and enjoys talking about cinema with young people. Passionate about photography, he has a photo-library of more than 50,000 photos of film sets, of nature, and of his travels.