What becomes possible when women living in extreme poverty are trusted to decide for themselves?

We originally travelled to Rwanda to create three individual portrait films for 100Weeks. But after meeting Epiphanie, Claudine and Madeleine, we felt their stories belonged together. Using the material we captured, we developed and independently released The Women of Rwanda: one collective story about agency, resilience and the power of direct financial support.

Each woman received $8 a week for 100 weeks: unconditional cash transferred directly to her, alongside practical training in saving, planning and bookkeeping.

Epiphanie is a mother of six who had to abandon her dream of becoming a nurse. Claudine struggled to provide even one meal a day for her family. Madeleine could never save because everything she earned went towards immediate survival.

The money did not transform their lives overnight or erase the hardship they faced. It gave them room to make choices beyond the next meal. They started small businesses, created greater stability and found their own ways to move their families forward.

With just one shooting day per woman, we worked observationally, capturing intimate moments within their homes, work and communities as they naturally unfolded.

Visually, we wanted to move away from the polished language often associated with NGO films. Using Midjourney-generated imagery as raw material, we created digital collages, printed and tore them apart, and photographed them again. This physical process gave the film its layered, imperfect texture, interwoven with the documentary footage. The music was shaped by what we experienced in Rwanda, creating another emotional thread between the three stories.

The film does not present $8 as a miracle solution. It asks a more powerful question: what happens when support comes without prescriptions—and women are given the freedom to decide what change looks like?

The Women of Rwanda was shortlisted for Film Direction at the 2026 ADCN Awards and selected by SHOTS.

Credits

• Director & Writer — Karlijn Hendriksen

• Creative Director — Ben Phillips

• Executive Producer — Rogier Dorant

• Producer — Lea Volke

• Director of Photography — Gabor Deak

• Camera Assistant — Ronnie den Heijer

• Editor — Leda Zhang

• Animation & Titles — Leda Zhang en Maxime Busby

• Design & Typography — Leda Zhang en Eduardo Negreiros Marzionna

• Online Editor — Daniel Rodrigues Correia

• Grading — Floris Kester

• Head of ESG — Regina Romeijn