In a Rwandan village, teens gather at a house party. Lovely Jean (Zaninka Hadidja), her handsome boyfriend and friends dance and sing along to (of all things) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s schmaltzy gem, “Islands in the Stream.”
It’s an unexpected moment of goofy grace, especially in a film that addresses that East African nation’s genocide. In 1994, over the span of 100 days, an estimated 800,000 people were killed by their fellow countrymen. Most were Tutsis, though Hutus were also murdered.
In 2004, “Hotel Rwanda” introduced many audiences to the story of that seemingly viral genocide in which neighbor turned on neighbor. Actor Don Cheadle was nominated for his portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotelier who offered refuge to Tutsis in his establishment.
“Kinyarwanda,” an audience fave on the festival circuit, asks how — even if — survivors and perpetrators can move forward together.
The film is not just a wrenching history lesson about how easily riven a nation can become. It is also a moving tale about the struggle of Rwandans to stitch their country back together, to find a way to forgive as well as ask forgiveness, to live once again beside one another.
The title represents that aim: Kinyarwanda is the shared language of Rwanda.
Penned and directed by Alrick Brown, “Kinyarwanda” begins 10 years after the madness, but flash backs to it. It is an involving, multicharacter drama based on testimony of survivors who found refuge in the Grand Mosque in Rwanda’s capital, Kilgali. In addition to Jean and her beau are a Catholic priest; a muslim imam; the nation’s highest ranking holy man, the Mufti of Rwanda; a Hutu-Tutsi couple; a child; and a soldier.
Cassandra Freeman cuts an intelligently sensitive figure as Lt. Rose, a warrior tasked with overseeing a camp where efforts continue to bring those responsible for murders back into Rwandan culture.
Without oversentimentalizing, “Kinyarwanda” makes the argument that the burden of the wanton brutality, while traumatic for the survivors, is also problematic for the perpretrators. Trained so often by movies to root for good and condemn evil, viewers may not want to agree with that perspective. But you won’ t be able to ignore it.
As films about genocide should (and must), “Kinyarwanda” forces audiences to reckon with what our own choices might be faced with the unimaginable. The filmmaker takes that ethical exercise an invaluable step further. Because the question for Rwandans is no longer this: Would you stand up to killers and lawlessness? (Or the one few believe could relate to them: Would you participate in mob violence?)
It has become this daunting challenge: Could you forgive your rapist, your child’s murderer, your parents’ torturer? Could you accept a compassionate justice for the sake of your nation? That is the uneasy proposition at the heart of this surprisingly gentle film.
Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com
