Birds Are Singing in Kigali

We meet ornithologist Anna in 1994 just as genocide is raging in Rwanda, perpetrated by the majority Hutus against the Tutsis. Anna manages to save the daughter of a colleague whose family has been murdered, and she takes her to Poland. But the woman returns to Rwanda to visit the graves of her loved ones. The director originally worked on the movie with her husband Krzysztof Krauze (My Nikifor – Crystal Globe, KVIFF 2005), but after his death in 2014 she eventually finished this challenging picture alone.

A Sunday in Kigali

In April 1994, the middle-aged Canadian journalist Bernard Valcourt is making a documentary in Kigali about AIDS. He secretly falls in love for the Tutsi waitress of his hotel Gentille, who is younger than him, in a period of violent racial conflicts. When the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda begins, Bernard does not succeed in escaping with Gentille to Canada. When the genocide finishes in July 1994, Bernard returns to the chaotic Kigali seeking out Gentille in the middle of destruction and dead bodies.

Kinyarwanda

A young Tutsi woman and a young Hutu man fall in love amid chaos; a soldier struggles to foster a greater good while absent from her family; and a priest grapples with his faith in the face of unspeakable horror.

Opération Turquoise

Long Coat

Following the story of a genocide survivor as well as son of a killer, the film revolves around the meaning of an old coat and its symbolic value for the young boy’s dramatic past. (African Film Festival, New York)

Hutsi

The story is afterimage of the genocide that happened in Rwanda almost 30 years ago. We’ve assembled an incredible team of individuals, each with an immense sensitivity to the subject matter, who are helping us bring this story to life both in its literary and visual dimension. This film is an exploration of the search for hope and humanistic values in the face of unimaginable adversity.

In the Shade of the Hills

Amani is 31. When he was an infant, he survived the genocide against Rwanda’s Tutsi population. Three decades later, Amani has set up an organisation in Nyamirambo, one of the more economically impoverished districts of the country’s capital, Kigali. It employs creativity, artistic practice and performance to grapple with poverty and generational trauma – acknowledging that deep-seated ideologies can easily foment prejudice and create an environment that proved so catastrophic in the past.

Mountain Gorilla

Mountain Gorilla takes us to a remote range of volcanic mountains in Africa, described by those who have been there as ""one of the most beautiful places in the world"", and home to the few hundred remaining mountain gorillas. In spending a day with a gorilla family in the mountain forest, audiences will be captivated by these intelligent and curious animals, as they eat, sleep, play and interact with each other. Although gorillas have been much-maligned in our popular culture, viewers will finally ""meet the legend"" face to face, and learn about their uncertain future.

God Sleeps in Rwanda

A powerful documentary about five women whose lives have been irrevocably altered by the Rwandan genocide. With the country left nearly 70% female in the wake of the massacres, "God Sleeps In Rwanda" is a lucid portrait of the much larger change affected by women in the East African country.

Rwanda : the silence of words

Their words had never been heard before. Co-directed by French-Rwandan musician and author Gaël Faye and director Michael Sztanke, this movie records with sensitivity and for the first time the testimonies of Prisca, Marie-Jeanne and Concessa about their lives during the genocide and after. The three Tutsi women tell the camera about their daily lives during the genocide and in the refugee camps of Murambi and Nyarushishi, where they lived a nightmare under the guard of the French soldiers of the Opération Turquoise who, under a UN mandate, where supposed to protect them. While the French army denies any rape accusation, the three women filed complaints with the French justice system in 2004 and 2012. The investigation is now at a standstill.

Rwanda, l'appel de l'Inanga

Living in France, a Rwandan psychotherapist committed to rebuilding her country returns this time to learn to play the inanga, the traditional zither. A moving journey through a festive Rwanda, in search of her cultural identity.

Coexist

Coexist tells the emotional stories of women who survived the Rwandan genocide in 1994. They continue to cope with the loss of their families as the killers who created this trauma return from jail back to the villages where they once lived. Faced with these perpetrators on a daily basis, the victims must decide whether they can forgive them or not. Their decisions are unfathomable to many, and speak to a humanity that has survived the worst violence imaginable.

The Diary of Immaculée

In this moving documentary, Oscar-nominated filmmakers Peter LeDonne and Steve Kalafer chronicle the extraordinary life of Immaculée Ilibagiza, a young African woman who escaped genocide in Rwanda and ultimately found refuge in the United States. Seeking shelter with an Episcopalian minister, Immaculée hid from her attackers inside a bathroom for three long months but stayed centered through prayer and faith.

Der Mörder meiner Mutter - Eugénie will Gerechtigkeit

Earth Made of Glass

Chronicling the search for truth and peace in post-genocide Rwanda. Director Deborah Scranton explores issues of peace, retribution, accountability and justice, ultimately discovering a blueprint for ending the cycle of violence. Examining the personal and political repercussions of the deadly conflict in this east African country.

Breaking Through: The Rise of African Cycling

Biniam Girmay’s recent successes have shown that African cycling is on the up, ready at last to follow athletics and football into the big time. But why has it taken so long, and what’s needed to take it all the way? Set against the beauty and battles of the Tour du Rwanda, we explore the past, present and future of riders from Eritrea, South Africa, Rwanda and more, meeting Girmay and the rising stars hot on his heels, as well as the people passionate about giving these riders the opportunities they deserve. This is the story of the next great continent in cycling - Africa.