Karl Rothauer
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Trailer “kwibuka – remember”

Trailer “kwibuka – remember”

A Documentary by Josefine Golla und Karl Rothauer
Austria 2017
Length: ca. 35 minutes English Subtiltles
„kwibuka – remember“ [kinyarwanda] is a documentary about sensations that arose in view of a country tormented by genocide. The film was created during a journey in which being confronted with an unfamiliar past while reflecting about one’s own history and its contemporary perception provokes a sense of interference. Ostensibly, the documentary centers on the participants of a field trip to Rwanda organized by the universities of Linz and Salzburg in June 2014. Yet, this film is essentially a reflection of the perceptions of the filmmakers. Thus, it can contribute only little if anything at all to explaining the causes of the genocide but intends rather to generate empathy, at the level of feelings, for the suffering of the victims while engendering interest in their history. The interference this film causes in the viewers is intentional as it presents them with an extremely complex history that may only be experienced at the level of emotions.
The film is divided into three conceptual segments: the first one is devoted to the culture of remembrance in Rwanda and shows various memorial sites. People who get to talk were shaped by the genocide but work in places that preserve the horror in an effort to prevent another genocide. The second part is about people whose lives have been marked by genocide in that they became refugees, which they still are 20 years later. In the final chapter, the viewers are transformed into an observer shaken by disbelief and doubt. Attending a meeting of a Healing and Reconciliation Group in which nine victims and nine perpetrators are willing to share is a powerful moment, which, through this film, opens new perspectives even to the participants and which offers all viewer insights into ways of coping with crises.