Gacaca
Living Together Again In Rwanda?
Winner of the Unesco Fellini Prize (2003)
The first in Anne Aghion's documentary film series on Gacaca justice following genocide in Rwanda. Follow the first steps in one of the world’s boldest experiments in reconciliation. (2002)
“Seminal”—Variety
"Nuanced and intelligent"
—Alison des Forges, Author & Human Rights Watch Advisor
“A fine film which will fuel many lively discussions”
—Educational Media Reviews Online
“Rremarkable”
—Le Nouvel Observateur
“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”
—Philip Gourevitch, Author & New Yorker staff writer
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The first film in this award-winning trilogy ventures into the rural heart of the African nation of Rwanda. Follow 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.
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"This is an excellent film… It totally avoids the pitfalls so many documentaries fall into: either the pornography of violence and death... or the succession of experts... None of that here: only Rwandans who speak.... The film does a good job of explaining very complicated matters in a simple way... And yet, the documentary maker managed to avoid presenting a biased or incomplete picture of the challenge of justice…"
—Peter Uvin, Director of the Institute for Human Security at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Author & Consultant on the Gacaca and other issues of international cooperation for the Belgian Secretary of State for International Development, the European Union and the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, among others.