A movie by a Norwegian film maker about widows of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi will next month premiere in Norway in a move that its producer hopes will change her country’s perception towards the genocide that killed more than a million people.
The film, Duhozanye-Rwandan widows by Karoline Frogner, a reknowned Norwegian film producer is based on Daphrose, a Rwandan woman who lost 8 of her 11 children during the genocide. She first thought about committing suicide but later changed her mind and instead took in some 20 orphans and started Duhozanye meaning “Let’s comfort each other”, an association of Hutu and Tutsi widows who were married to Tutsi men before the genocide.
The film will premiere in Norway on May 6 and later on Norwegian National Television (NRK). It will also be distributed in North America by women make movies, an American movie distributor and in the rest of the world by NORDIC World.
Karoline, the director and producer of the 52-minute movie says she is ashamed her country is home to over 20 Rwandan genocide fugitives yet it claims to respect the rule of law. She explains that her country’s double standards date back to the Holocaust.
Karoline said that she has three more movies about Rwanda in the pipeline. One is about the students of Nyange, another is about Gacaca courts while the third is about modern Rwanda called “From Oslo to Kigali.” Tharcisse Karugarama, the Minister of Justice said Rwanda is happy that the genocide story is now being told by Norwegians themselves adding that this will help the Norwegian government think twice about their continued inaction on genocide fugitives.
17 years after the genocide against Tutsi, several European countries including Norway continue to harbor known genocide fugitives and have refused to either extradite them to Rwanda to stand trial or try them in their own courts despite repeated requests from the Rwandan government and survivors.
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