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Press ReleaseTwo Internews Rwanda Documentaries Highlighted at Film Festivals
(September 18, 2009) Two films – one Congolese, one Rwandan – that Internews Europe produced with local journalists, will be featured in film festivals. The films are part of a series of 12 documentaries, filmed in both countries, that tell stories of everyday life – music, sport, village events – to familiarize communities on both sides of the conflict-affected border with each other and show how they can live together in peace. They were screened in public and aired all over Rwanda and the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “A Letter to my Daughter” – has been nominated for an Award in the international documentary category of the International Film Festival South Africa taking place November 2- 8. The film has also been selected at the Radar Hamburg Film Festival taking place in Hamburg, Germany from November 2-7. In the film, a young Congolese journalist is shocked when she interviews victims of domestic violence in Rwanda and Congo. She discovers the deep-rooted and prevalent nature of the violence, a subject that is taboo in Africa. Women are regularly beaten and degraded when their husbands bring mistresses home. They are forced to bear children with husbands they no longer love. And tradition demands that they serve and obey husbands as masters in the home. In a region of Africa where women have experienced extreme violence during multiple genocides, massacres and wars, women cannot voice their anguish. There is no one to turn to for help. And sadly, these distraught women inflict more suffering on their children, ignoring daughters who find themselves in similarly abusive relationships. The Congolese journalist, Solange, belongs to the new generation of women who are demanding justice, respect and equality in marriage. The other film, “24h in Mutubo Camp,” shows life over a 24 hour period in a transit camp in Rwanda for Hutu ex-combatants. This film is included in the Culture Unplugged online films festival (Humanity Explored). The series was produced with the support of the African Conflict Prevention Pool - British Foreign Commonwealth Office. |
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