This post is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week.
PLOT: Orphaned by the Rwandan Genocide, Ngabo (Jeff Rutagengwa), a member of the Tutsi tribe, sets off to kill his parents’ murderer. He is accompanied by Sangwa (Eric Ndorunkundiye), who is Hutu. During their journey, they stay with Sangwa’s family where tribal differences cause friction between the two friends.
MEMORABLE MOMENT: The opening scene in which Ngabo steals a machete from a marketplace. As he holds the weapon we see there is blood on the blade. The camera pans to Ngabo’s face and then back to the machete. We see that it is in fact clean, the blood is all in his mind. At this point we have been told nothing about Ngabo’s backstory but we can guess what the young man intends to do with the weapon.
According to IMDB
- Munyurangabo was the first feature-length movie filmed in the Kinyarwanda language.
However, the film gives little history regarding the genocide itself. I’m assuming this is because it was filmed in a country where every member of the population is all too familiar with the events. If you aren’t familiar, though, you may want to watch a movie like Hotel Rwanda first to get some context.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT?: The DVD is available through Netflix. It is also available to rent ($3.99) or buy ($9.99) on Amazon. I’m sure you could also borrow it from many public or university library systems.
RUNTIME: 97 minutes
DIRECTOR: Lee Isaac Chung
WRITERS:
Samuel Gray Anderson
Lee Isaac Chung
STARING:
Jeff Rutagengwa
Eric Ndorunkundiye
Jean Marie Vianney Nkurikiyinka