I originally wanted to air this conversation a few weeks ago between the segments of Ellis Cose and his radio documentary “Hope on a Pile of Bones” about Rwanda – and Corneille, the Rwandan singer who survived the 1994 genocide. Then I wanted to wait until the DVD was available (coming soon, should be sometime next month), but this weekend seemed like a nice fit – between Andrew Bacevich and his book “The Limits of Power” and Martin Goldsmith on Jewish composers killed during the Holocaust.
It’s been 15 years since nearly a million Rwandans were killed by their countrymen. “As We Forgive” is about the idea of reconciliation and putting that small, densely populated country back together – one pair of killer and survivor at a time. There wasn’t enough room in all the jails or in the Rwandan justice system for all of the murderers, so after a certain amount of time, the “low-level” murderers have been let out of jail to go back home. Their villages are populated by the survivors of their attacks and their victim’s family members. During the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Rosaria’s sister, husband and four small children were hacked to death with machetes by Saveri, a neighbor she had known her entire life. Saveri was imprisoned for his crimes, but has now returned home. “As We Forgive” tells the stories of survivors like Rosaria as they prepare to face the men who slaughtered their families and test whether reconciliation can really work. Laura Waters Hinson is the film’s director. It won Best Documentary at the 2008 Student Academy Awards and is narrated by Mia Farrow.
More information on “As We Forgive” can be found here.
Click here to see the movie’s trailer.
To pre-order a copy of the movie on DVD, click here.
-Chad