(“Finding Hillywood” trailer)
A few years back, we reported on a West Seattle filmmaker busy with a project then called “Film Festival: Rwanda.” Today – under the title “Finding Hillywood” – director Leah Warshawski‘s film is complete – after six years of work – and is about to have its world premiere! From the announcement:

Finding Hillywood is a feature documentary about the beginning of Rwanda’s film industry and a real-life example of how art heals.

First-time director and West Seattle resident Leah Warshawski and cinematographer Chris Towey invite us to experience Rwanda from an intimate, fresh perspective – through the lens of the country’s first filmmaking generation and the Rwanda Film Festival, now in its 9th year.

“Finding Hillywood” will be screened at the Egyptian Theater on Capitol Hill as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, this Wednesday (May 29th) and June 5.

And that’s just the beginning, Warshawski tells WSB that after SIFF, “we will screen at the deadCENTER Film Festival in Oklahoma City on June 8, and the Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto on June 23. We have some other things coming up but they are not public yet. Our main character from Rwanda (Ayuub) will be in Seattle with us from May 28 – June 6.” If you’d like to see “Finding Hillywood” during its premiere screenings, ticket sales and showtimes for the upcoming screenings can be found on the SIFF website.