April recognizes the anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide with a screening on April 13th of My Neighbour My Killer, a hard-hitting documentary that examines how the people of Rwanda attempt to reconcile after the genocide through an open process of admission and forgiveness.
April is also the month when in 1994 South Africa elected its first democratic president, an historic event that nearly never happened. In 1994: The Bloody Miracle, for the first time, those responsible for countless deaths and widespread mayhem explain how they nearly brought South Africa to its knees.
Later in the month on the 27th, Soweto, Times of Wrath is a film that demands that we, the sleeping, wake up and attend to the restless, those excluded from the so-called South African Dream. The anger of the young and dispossessed is put in sharp focus in a film that holds nothing back and strips bare the realities of life for many in current-day South Africa.
For more information:
www.afridocs.net, www.facebook.com/AfriDocs, @afri_docs
6 April
Walls | Pablo Iraburu, Migueltxo Molina | Global | 2015 | 80 min
The world is increasingly divided by physical walls, with human beings on either side of them. Brilliant editing connects people living and working on different sides of the walls between Mexico and the United States, Spain and Morocco, Israel and Palestine, and South Africa and Zimbabwe. This true cinematic experience doesn’t enter geopolitical discussions directly, but rather explores the consequences of division as a global issue.
* Oxfam Global Justice Award – IDFA 2015
13 April
My Neighbour, My Killer |Anne Aghion | Rwanda | 2009 | 80 min
The people of Rwanda attempt to reconcile after the genocide through an open process of admission and forgiveness. Filmed over ten years, it makes us reflect on how people can live together after such a traumatic experience. Through the story and the words of the inhabitants of a small rural community, we see survivors and killers learn how to coexist.
* Winner of Nestor Almendros Award – Human Rights Watch, 2009
20 April
1994: The Bloody Miracle | Meg Rickards & Bert Haitsma | South Africa | 2014 | 108 min
With over 2 decades since the advent of democracy in 1994, it’s hard to believe the ‘Mandela miracle’ nearly didn’t happen. In an orgy of countrywide violence, some were intent on derailing the first free elections. Now, for the first time, those responsible for countless deaths and widespread mayhem explain how they nearly brought South Africa to its knees.
*Durban International Film Festival 2014
27 April
Soweto, Times of Wrath | Siphamandla Bongwana, Stanford Gibson, Nduduzo Shandu, Jerry Obakeng Gaegane, Asanda Kupa, Gontse More | South Africa | 2016 | 60 min
Here is a film that demands that we, the sleeping, wake up and attend to the restless, those excluded from the so-called South African Dream. “What am I in South Africa? I have voted!”, shouts an illegal miner as police fire warning shots. Captured by a sextet of young Sowetans, these snapshots present a country whose people are angry and wearied by endemic corruption.
