Even though 2007 is still young, I've already dived back into Rwanda by watching a couple documentaries about the legacy of the genocide. The books and film above tended to look at the genocide itself and its immediate aftermath. But what has happened in Rwanda since then? How are the people now here in the 21st century?
Rwanda: A Killer's Homecoming is, as best I can tell, a production of the UK. I believe it was shot in 2003 and released the following year. And so we're talking a time frame of 9 years after the genocide ended. It is the story of Odette and Theophile Ntaganda. Theophile is a Hutu while Odette a Tutsi and they had a happy marriage, which also included two sons, Kofi and Sharif, prior to the genocide. But, after it began, Theophile eventually found himself in a situation which ended in him killing his mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law, and a niece. Odette, meanwhile managed to flee and survived. "I was meant to die but God protected me," she said. Tutsi rebels took control of the country and the genocide ended after nearly a million people were killed in only 100 days. As the country put itself back together, it jailed tens of thousands of Hutus who were accused of participating in the slaughter, Theophile among them. Nice years later in 2003, there were still 100,000 prisoners waiting for a trial. With such a massive backlog, a program was instituted whereby prisoners who admitted guilt and showed remorse underwent 6 weeks of "reeducation" and then released. It was through this program that Theophile was freed and allowed to return home.
As her husband sat in prison, Odette (above) started to rebuild her life with the help of Theophile's friend, John. The couple eventually fell in love and were married. The picture above doesn't really get this across but Odette comes across as having incredible inner strength. Scenes with her often portray her as just getting on with life as opposed to dwelling on the past. She is remarkably restrained when talking about Theophile. While she wishes that justice was exacted by his death, she remains pretty calm when speaking about him. Taking the interviews with her and removing the subtitles, you'd never guess the hell she lived through. Odette seems like a very normal parent trying to provide for & raise children and to be a good wife - some of the normal struggles of life. The problem is that Odette and Theophile were never officially divorced so, in essence, she is a bigamist. On top of this, because of Rwandan law, the husband gets custody of the children so, upon release Theophile sets out to reclaim his kids and start life anew.
Odette likes her life as it is and news of her husband's release casts a pall over her. She despises the man and thinks he deserves to be killed in return for his actions. While he claims the Hutu mobs forced him to kill his in-laws and niece, Odette has no sympathy for him. She knows that, since Theophile is a man and they are technically still husband and wife, she could lose her children and potentially face jail time. And so watching as Theophile is released from prison I tensed up in anticipation of a dramatic reuniting. The story was kind of a cross between Matagari and The Monkey's Paw. Theophile wasn't exactly a revenant in the traditional sense but his return would surely splinter a family and inflict further pain on people who have already suffered enough.
Theophile sets out on the road back to his village. Upon arrival, he seeks out and finds his father who greets him with a hug. Having made this first contact, Theophile then sets out to find his children. He eventually finds them.
That's him with his youngest son, Kofi. The look in the boy's eyes says it all. He doesn't quite seem to understand what's happening and is very uncomfortable. In an interview, Kofi talks about how his father killed his grandmother and he also says that John is his father now. Sadly he adds, "I feel I don't have peace." The boys barely remember their father but know him from stories. Odette tells him how he used to be a fancy dresser but she is also honest with them and, when they hear stories from neighbors about what their father did, she tells them that the stories are true. The boys do not trust their own father and want their family as it stands to remain instead of being broken up.
Theophile returns to the home he shared with Odette and finds it abandoned and in ruin. But he vows to fix it up and to make it a home once again.
To say that he has a long row to hoe is quite the understatement. Upon release, he was hopeful but reality soon sets in and Theophile realizes that his future is going to be immensely difficult. I was impressed with the way that the documentary portrayed him. He admits to the killings on camera and is shown in church as well as expressing regret over his actions. He is almost a sympathetic character. While Odette surely has every right to feel as she does, I sat there thinking that perhaps he was one of the wretches that could be saved. I cannot fathom what it must be like to one day see society collapse around you and a genocide begin. And so, when Theophile says that he is essentially a victim of circumstances, I believe him. While I'm not trying to pardon his acts of murder here, I must admit that I saw him not so much as a brutal killer but more as a pathetic figure. Theophile is someone who didn't rise up to the level of heroic martyr but rather suffered from being an average human being who committed horrible acts in order not to become just another number in the list of the moderate Hutus who were cut down during the genocide.
As Theophile's attempts to reclaim his life fail, we witness John, above, go on a tirade. He dismisses Theophile's claims of being a victim of sorts himself and accuses him of being part of the militia that carried out the genocide.
The documentary ends with Theophile struggling to find work, a court case pending, and all optimism for a future slowly receding. Likewise, the fates of John, Odette, and their kids are left hanging. I'm ambivalent about this. On the one hand it is frustrating but on the other it is probably the situation in which of tens of thousands of Rwandans find themselves. The task of trying to reconcile must be enormously difficult. Even if men like Theophile are denied the custody of their children and driven to live far away from them, Rwanda still faces the burden of having to integrate these people into society. They need to work and must make a contribution to society. On the other side, genocide survivors are forced to have next-door neighbors who were or are murderers.
Nearly a decade had passed since the genocide when Rwanda: A Killer's Homecoming was shot. However, as Odette says, survivors can never forget. Perhaps this is the most important lesson to be drawn from the video, even though it is not explicit. I remember hearing of the genocide on the nightly news and I recall the footage of the refugee camps that arose in its wake. But, until last year, I barely gave the genocide a second thought. We in America have basically forgotten about it and we forgot about it long before 9/11. Of all the countries in the world who could have intervened, America could have done the most to stop the genocide. Rwanda: A Killer's Homecoming is a very focused and personal look at a family. It doesn't try to assign blame or chastise anyone. Memory is an important theme, though. Survivors cannot forget while the young cannot remember. But for me, as an American thousands of miles away, it also challenged my memory. It asked me to remember the genocide but to also not forget that the effects are not even close to being over.
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