21 April 2011
In remembrance of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, AfricAvenir Windhoek will screen, “Sometimes in April” on Saturday 30 April at Studio 77, as part of the monthly series African Perspective film screenings.
Sometimes in April is a story about the relationship between Augustin Muganza, a captain in the Rwandan army in 1994, and Honore, his brother, a Hutu extremist and prominent broadcaster at Radio Tèlèvision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM).
Augustin and his comrade Xavier, defy their military superiors’ instructions in order to get Augustin’s Tutsi wife and children to safety. But Augustin fails to reach them and is arrested by the genocidaires. He then opts to entrust his wife and sons and leave them in the care of his brother, who agrees to drive them to safety. This was the last time Augustin would see his family as he gets caught up in his own desperate struggle to survive.
Ten years later, Augustin sets out to meet Honore, who is standing trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), for the role that he and other journalists played in the devastating civil war. Augustin hopes to find out what had happened to his wife and sons, so that he might find closure.
The film, which is directed by Raoul Pecks, clearly differs from other films such as 100 days and Hotel Rwanda, which are based on the Rwandan genocide.
Peck draws his inspiration from reality in order to transpose it to the different strata of an entirely constructed script. There are no good victims or bad genocide perpetrators but, through the relationship between the two brothers, Augustin and Honoré, the complexity of a country that has drifted away emerges. The film won the best film award at the Durban International Film Festival.
The screening will start at 18:00 at Studio 77. Entrance is free.
AllAfrica – All the Time