Dorothée Munyaneza

Munyaneza was born in Kigali, Rwanda.[1] Her father is a pastor, and her mother is a journalist.[2] Munyaneza and her family left Kigali during the Rwandan genocide, when Munyaneza was aged 12.[1] Her mother worked for a non-governmental organisation, and was therefore able to secure the family a safe passage to London.[2][3][4] There she studied at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle. Whilst studying, she met Christine Sigwart, founder of the Jonas Foundation, a charity that aims to help integrate immigrant children. She became interested in music, and studied music at the Jonas Foundation.[2][5] Munyaneza studied music and social sciences at Canterbury Christ Church University.[6] She now resides in Marseille, France,[2][6] and has a daughter.[4]

Munyaneza was inspired to work on the Rwandan genocide topic after seeing documentaries on the subject, especially one by Thierry Michel about the work of Denis Mukwege.[7]

Munyaneza worked on the sound track for the Hotel Rwanda film. She started out as a singer and storyteller for the film, but then started dancing in a style similar to how she had danced as a child in Rwanda.[1] She worked with François Verret, Robyn Orlin, Rachid Ouramdane, Nan Goldin, Mark Tompkins, Ko Murobushi and Alain Buffard.[1][4][8] As a singer, she released her first solo album in 2010, which was produced by Martin Russell.[6][9] In 2012, she collaborated with British composer James Seymour Brett to produce the album Earth Songs.[6][9] In 2013, she starred in a performance by Rachid Ouramdane in Rennes, France. During the performance, she chanted the names of Algerians killed during the Paris massacre of 1961.[4]

In 2014, Munyaneza produced the work Samedi Détente (Saturday relaxation). It focused upon the Rwandan genocide, how 800,000 people died in 100 days,[10] and her own personal experience of the genocide.[11] The work debuted in Nîmes, France.[12]

In 2017, she produced Unwanted, her second work about the Rwandan genocide.[1] The work featured French composer Alain Mahé,[1] and focused on interviews between Munyaneza and survivors of the genocide,[3] as well as women in Congo, Chad, Syria, and the countries that were formerly part of the SFR Yugoslavia.[1][7] Unwanted has a particular focus on raped women and their conceived children.[11] Munyaneza presented Unwanted at the 2017 Festival d'Avignon,[13][14][15] and also at the Festival d'automne à Paris.[11]