(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Director Christophe Cotteret has done thorough research in connection with Inkontanyi, where he tries to shed light on the complexities of Rwanda's recent history. The film had a world premiere at the DOK Leipzig festival and invited the audience to deeply reflect on the limitations and possibilities of political systems, including the so-called democratic ones. Understanding "without abbreviations," as Cotteret calls it, means turning back to the middle of the last century – to Belgium's colonization of Rwanda and the colonists' ambiguous "divide and rule" strategy – which marks the starting point for all subsequent disasters where discrimination based on Ethnicity has been deliberately used to achieve various political goals.
Presenting complex realities on the ground also involves delving into political, cultural and military trends in the region, such as pan-Africanism, and the background to the demand for freedom from Western influence. Pan-Africanism's foremost spokesperson is Paul Kagame – Rwanda's current president.
Genocide. In the "classic" documentary style, Cotteret combines historical clips with new material, including interviews with key players (including Belgian and French) and local witnesses who tell of the atrocities that have taken place on the scene. Inkotanyi is extremely informative in its reconstruction of the greatest genocide in human history. A project like this takes time: two hours and six minutes, if one is accurate. But that time goes by quickly when you sit in the movie theater.
The principle was: no impunity, no revenge, no mercy, no prayer for forgiveness.
It sheds light on the background and premise of the most effective killing machine the world has seen. Over 100 days, between April and July 1994, a million Tutsis were killed – largely by Hutu extremists, but with active support from the Hutu population, equipped with 500 machetes purchased from China. The Cotter gives us an account of the continuous mistakes, misunderstandings and manipulations of the governments of Belgium and France – historically the most influential foreign powers in Rwanda.
The Red string. The common thread in Cotteret's narrative is a long interview with Paul Kagame, who has political views the West is critical of. He claims that: "We do not need to be enlightened… No one has the right to despise us." As Kagame declares this, Cotteret's camera shows the soldiers and the civilian audience singing and dancing.
Paul Kagame entered the limelight as the lead figure for Inkotanyi – a political military movement founded in 1987, officially named Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) – which put an end to the Tutsi genocide. Today, he is a very secretive and controversial president. The cotter had to wait for two years before he was granted an interview.
The first wave of massacre of Tutsis, which then took power, took place in 1959. 20 Tutsis were killed. The Vatican and the Order The White Fathers supported this "social revolution". In reality, there was organized social revenge for the alleged repression of the Hutu. The Tutsis were forced out of the country for nearly three decades, and were refugees in various neighboring countries, many of whom ended up in Uganda. The cotter follows their exile in detail.
The French and Belgian governments acted first by that Inkotany's military actions began to succeed. After a diplomatic tug of war, the Tutsis were offered key positions in Rwanda's newly established government, and in the military. The refugees returned, only to fall victim to a new outbreak of violence in early 1994, after Rwanda's moderate Hutu president was assassinated when he was on his way to sign an agreement to prevent Hutu extremism.
The rest is a story we know. It is worth noting that Belgian forces, as they themselves evacuated Rwanda, deliberately failed to protect a group of Tutsis who were obviously doomed, near the airport.
Only after 75 percent of the Tutsi population was exterminated, and after Inkotanyi forcibly forced the Hutu government to the border with Zaire, did the French government realize that their allies had lost the battle, and launched the "Opération Turquoise" in June 1994. The alleged The humanitarian goal was to provide protection and security to the homeless. The project was in a hurry: it "was a matter of hours," according to President Mitterrand. However, in front of the Cotter's camera, the former French military confirms that the Tutsi population did not receive protection – the real aim of the French forces was to find their soldiers.
Just society. The key question was: How should the violence spiral be stopped? Kagame's response was "with severe punishments": any revenge – even those committed by Tutsi soldiers – was punished with death. Cotteret asks if there are no other ways than the so-called terror policy? The terror was accompanied by attempts at reconciliation. On each hill in Rwanda, local Gacaca courts ("freedom among the grass") were created and put into activity by the people themselves. Amnesty would only mean impunity. Around two million people were convicted. The principle was: no impunity, no revenge, no mercy, no prayer of forgiveness.
The leaders of the genocide had largely fled to other countries, but were eventually arrested and prosecuted in international courts. These cases were characterized by criminal proceedings, and the manipulation of witnesses – who had been subjected to the abuses and terror – was common. The legal defenders of these leaders received considerable resources from the UN.
Today, racism is not just a meaning or attitude, but a crime, according to the official political line in Rwanda.
Stability. The women still wash thousands of human bones in the Rwandan landscape. It is obvious today that all Western intervention throughout history has been unsuccessful and has done irreparable damage. Kagame's return to the Pan-African model is more than understandable. His popularity is obvious. Rwanda is today a relatively stable and safe country, while chaos and ethnic massacres characterize neighboring countries.
The cotter warns against "the hasty conclusions of the West" and to stamp Rwanda as a dictatorship. There is no doubt that there are strong authoritarian tendencies in the country. For example, the media are strictly monitored, but this can be explained by the fact that they played a devastating role in the past. People who use "ethnic rhetoric" are imprisoned immediately. Today, racism is not just a meaning or attitude, but a crime, according to the official political line in Rwanda.
The dominant view is that social growth and equality are the best means of ensuring peace: Women are represented in parliament, children have access to education and health services. Some regret the return of a strong Tutsi minority. Others believe that Rwanda lays the foundation for a post-ethnic era, where everyone is equal before the law.
It is important to know how political opponents are treated today, especially in prisons. In other words, it is important to know whether state institutions torture their opponents. The cotter does not touch this theme in Inkotanyi. Instead, he gives us an impressive amount of information on African challenges, pointing out that quick condemnations from a Western perspective are not appropriate.
Inkotanyi was awarded the main prize for documentary film at
The Signos da Noite festival in Lisbon.
