7 Days in Kigali, the week when Rwanda changed (2014) [N/A]
Written by:
Mehdi Ba
Jeremy Frey
Directed by:
Mehdi Ba, Jeremy Frey
Release Date:
March 23, 2014
Original Title:
7 jours à Kigali, la semaine où le Rwanda a basculé
Genres:
Documentary
Production Countries:
France
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 59
What happened in Rwanda in 1994 was not simply the spontaneous eruption of inter-ethnic hatred. It was planned genocide, on an industrial scale. Something that was prepared for at least a year in advance. Lists were made. Weapons were collected. RTLM radio spent months conditioning their audience to believe that one sector of their population represented a threat.
As the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda approaches, it's time for some of those who lived it to tell their stories. To reveal what really happened and how it was made possible. People like RTLM journalist, Valérie Bemeriki. She's now serving a life sentence for spreading hate and inciting murders. She provides an inside perspective on the role RTLM played - why she did what she did and if she regrets it. People like French national Pierre Galinier, who turned down the chance to be rescued because the French authorities refused to evacuate his Tutsi girlfriend. People like Czech diplomat Karel Kovanda, who describes what was going on inside the UN Security Council while the people of Rwanda were dying. People like James Kabarebe, the current Rwandan Minister of Defence. What happened in Rwanda in 1994 was not simply the spontaneous eruption of inter-ethnic hatred. It was planned genocide, on an industrial scale. Something that was prepared for at least a year in advance. Lists were made. Weapons were collected. RTLM radio spent months conditioning their audience to believe that one sector of their population represented a threat. We follow several characters in different parts of the city, hour by hour, through that first crucial week when the massacre could have been averted. Using aerial reconstructions of Kigali and innovative CGI, we will criss-cross the city, switching from one character's account to the other's.
