WUNRN
Women Make Movies - WMM
DUHOZANYE: RWANDAN
VILLAGE OF WIDOWS - FILM
Film Segment - http://www.wmm.com/advscripts/wmmvideo.aspx?pid=141
During the 1994 genocidal campaign that claimed the lives of an
estimated 800,000 Rwandans and committed atrocities against countless others,
Daphrose Mukarutamu, a Tutsi, lost her husband and all but two of her 11
children. In the aftermath she considered suicide. But instead, she took in 20
orphans and started Duhozanye, an association of Tutsi and Hutu widows who were
married to Tutsi men. This powerful documentary by award-winning Norwegian
director Karoline Frogner recounts the story of Duhozanye’s formation and
growth - from a support group of neighbors who share their traumatic
experiences, rebuild their homes, and collect and bury their dead, to an
expanding member-driven network that advances the empowerment of Rwandan women.
Featuring first-person accounts by Daphrose and other Duhozanye widows, the
film shows association members helping women victims of rape and HIV/AIDS,
running small businesses and classes in gender violence prevention, and taking
part in national reconciliation through open-air people’s courts where they can
face, and often forgive, their loved ones’ killers.