Gacaca
Living together again in Rwanda?

Unesco Fellini Prize, September, 2003

Venture into the rural heart of the African nation of Rwanda. Follows the first steps in one of the world’s boldest experiments in reconciliation: the Gacaca (Ga-CHA-cha) Tribunals. These are a new form of citizen-based justice, aimed at unifying this country of 8 million people, after the 1994 genocide which claimed over 800,000 lives in 100 days. While world attention is focused on the unfolding procedures, award-winning documentarian Anne Aghion bypasses the usual interviews with politicians and international aid workers, skips the statistics, and goes directly to the emotional core of the story, talking one-on-one with survivors and accused killers alike. In this powerful, compassionate and insightful film, with almost no narration, and using only original footage, she captures first-hand how ordinary people struggle to find a future after cataclysm.

Color – 55’ – In Kinyarwanda, with English subtitles

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reviews

"The film captures quite precisely much of what is most compelling and unsettling about Rwanda's quest for justice after genocide and, more: it captures the feel of Rwanda, the landscape, the texture of the place, the rhythm of speech and movement, the weird brilliance of colors amid the gloom of the spirit."
—Philip Gourevitch, Author of We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families, Stories from Rwanda