The room looked magnificent banked by large photos of Rwandan countryside. I especially enjoyed this giraffe picture; it looks like he's finished grazing one guest's head and has moved on to his neighbor.
There were stunning staff members, this one graciously holding her smile for a picture that took me two tries:
Then the event began with a spectacular performance from the Rwandan National Dance Troupe:
To have any idea of the importance that the Tribeca Film Festival — not to mention the country of Rwanda — placed on this event, you have only to look to the two main dignitaries invited to speak.
Jane Rosenthal , who co-founded Tribeca Productions with Robert De Niro and was the founding co-organizer (also with De Niro) of the Tribeca Film Festival, took the stage to introduce President of Rwanda Paul Kagame . President Kagame praised the concept of a country healing itself though artistic expression. His words had resonance, as both the Rwanda Cinema Center and the Tribeca Film Festival were founded on shared loss and tragedy, and both aim to rebuild, restore and heal.
A brief note on Paul Kagame: Rwanda's native population has historically been divided into three "ethnic" groups: the majority Hutu, minority Tutsi and a small population of Twa. In a span of three months in 1994, Hutu militia groups in Rwanda carried out genocide against Tutsi and moderate Hutus. More than 800,000 lost their lives. It was Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) that overthrew the ruling Hutu Power regime in July 1994, effectively ending the genocide. Kagame became president of Rwanda in March 2000. He eschews the old labels of ethnic heritage, presenting himself as Rwandan and not a Tutsi.
In Rwanda today, there are “reconciliation villages” where Tutsi and Hutu live and work together in harmony.
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Rwanda is healing itself through artistic expression, the good will of its people and the help of their government. Several speakers mentioned that the rest of the world should follow the example of reconciliation that the Hutu and Tutsi peoples in Rwanda have shown is possible.
After Kagame's speech, Rosenthal introduced former President Bill Clinton, whose first term coincided with the genocide. Clinton was forthright about his absence in Rwanda's time of greatest need. In his speech, he told us he considers it the biggest failure of his career.
He related a conversation he had years later with Nelson Mandela about how Rwanda would be healed. Mandela told him,
"To forgive, you must let it all go. Let the dead rest; Don’t imprison – the people must live together.”
Clinton then told a personal story about meeting a group of Tutsi and Hutu women during a visit to the one of the reconciliation villages in 1998. (I apologize for the shakiness of the camera. The story is fascinating viewing regardless.)
The screening followed. There were three short introductions to three short films, each produced in Rwanda in the native language of Kinyarwanda, with each director a student of the Rwanda Cinema Center . The flyer for the event does such a good job of explaining it all, that I'm going to let it do the telling:
"Scars of My Days" by Gilbert Ndahayo
"A Love Letter to My Country" by Thierry Dushimirimana
"Behind These Walls" by Pierre Lalumiere Kayitana
After the filmmakers spoke, Jean Paul Samputu, accompanied by dance troupe Ingeli, treated us to his original song "Psalm 100," written in 5/8 style.
(In 2006, Jean Paul Samputu's "Psalm 150" took first place in World Music at the prestigious International Songwriting Competition . Follow the link, which opens in a new window, and scroll down to "World Music" to hear his winning entry.)
At the entrance that evening was a fanned stack of the UN International Chamber of Commerce-created investment guide to Rwanda. Alongside it on the table I found this flyer:
Near the end of the night, Eric Kabera, founder of the Rwanda Cinema Center and organizer of the Rwanda Film Festival, explained what it was. It appears there is only one movie theater in Rwanda, and it is located in the capital city of Kigali. With the Hillywood festival, these filmmakers took their show on the road. They found a portable, inflatable screen that they could set up in the smaller villages, and screened the entire film festival for the people. Here's a BBC News article about Hillywood (opens in new window).
He told us that the people didn't want the filmmakers to leave when they were done screening for the night. They insisted that they wanted to see every film, so Kabera and his staff obliged. I’ve studied film, worked in both production and development, and met many people of varied relation to the industry. To a person, they are passionate and confident, and national origin makes little difference. But when Kabera proclaimed in closing, "Tribeca — I’m coming back next year and I’m bringing my films!"
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