Large brown eyes never packed so much emotion. Veined with burst blood vessels stained from tears and anger, just two women of the many affected by the 1994 genocide in Rwanda are portrayed in the documentary, "As We Forgive." AIM For Africa and Reitz Union Board Entertainment presented the film, directed by Laura Waters Hinson, Tuesday evening as the first part of An African Film Series in order to raise awareness to issues in foreign nations.
An intrigued audience speckled seats throughout the Reitz Union Auditorium to listen to the stories of Chantale and Rosaria—two Rwandan women facing the fears that they thought had been locked up behind iron bars.
More than 50,000 involved in the genocide murderers were released from jail by the Rwandan government, thus being left to face the survivors of the families that they murdered with their bare hands and machetes.
"As We Forgive" attempts to show Rwanda’s reconciliation efforts by trying to integrate those responsible for the genocide back into the society that they shredded to pieces. The audience got to witness the disturbing film of the bodies mangled from the genocide, left face down in the dusty, poverty-ridden streets of Rwanda. The documentary follows Chantale and Rosaria in their path of forgiving their former neighbors, and friends that turned into the murderers of their families. Though the words of the women were presented through subtitles, the deep emotion in their voices needed no translation.
After the showing of the Gold Winner of the Student Academy of Awards for Best Documentary, a discussion panel was held for the audience in the Auditorium. Viewers questioned details of the film ranging from the hidden messages in the piece to the role that God holds in the realm of forgiveness. One panelist in particular held personal ties to the film. UF graduate student and Rwanda native, Rémy Friends Ndangali, offered his unique insight on the documentary.
“It is difficult to understand the genocide in a short, one hour film. I have spent 14 and a half years trying to learn about Rwanda since I left, and I am still learning. The documentary is more about the human tragedy and the courage of people to forgive,” Ndangali said.
The film invoked not only ponderings of the forgiveness of those involved in the genocide, but ways in which the audience pulled into their personal struggles with forgiveness.
“In my opinion, the cost of forgiveness is trust. In the genocide, friends were the ones that did the killing. Forgiveness was about working on being able to trust them again,” Ndangali said.
The next film in the series will be shown on March 30th and will focus on life in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Correction 3/18/10: The headline for this story initially stated that "As We Forgive" is an upcomming film. It was actually screened this past Tuesday.
