Video Collection

100 Days

Category:

Genocide and Nationalism

The events which led to the horrific Rwanda massacre in 1994 - in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis died at the hands of the Hutus tribe - is the setting for this powerful political and human drama. The place is Kibuye, a village where the Hutu and the financially better-off Tutsi people live together in an environment simmering with tribal tensions. It is in this uneasy world where the young and beautiful Josette and her lover Baptiste - both Tutsis - plan to marry. When a local politician preaches hatred against the Tutsis and calls for "justice," the couple's plans together are shattered. The attack of the Hutus erupts one night separating the two - Baptiste flees into the jungle and eventually becomes a guerrilla fighter, while Josette and her family head to the local Catholic Church for protection. But even within the sanctity of the Church and under the "protection" of U.N. forces, no one is safe. The local priest has his lascivious eyes on Josette, who is! soon forced to submit to his desires in order to save her family and herself. A harrowing story of a human tragedy told with assured, unflinching direction and tenderly realistic acting; many of the cast actually survived the massacre. As the world turned its head, the U.N. retreated to safety, and the Church compromised its very mission, a "faceless" tragedy unfolded. Nick Hughes, an ex-BBC reporter now based in Kenya, has succeeded in giving a face and tremendous emotions to an unforgettable tale of survival, love and retribution. 2001. 96 minutes. (DVD only)

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