Lauren Ostrom – Features editor. Students gathered at both the viewing of “Rwanda: Beyond the Deadly Pit,” held Nov. 16 and a discussion with Gilbert Ndahayo about his film Nov. 18. Each event told heart-wrenching stories of family members who were brutally killed in Rwanda in the ’90s.
In central Africa, mourning faces continue to explain the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Skulls and bones, personal belongings of those who were killed and unanswered questions were seen through at the movie, directed by Ndahayo. At the time, each Rwandan citizen was classified as either a Hutu or a Tutsi. Hutus planned and instigated the extermination of the Tutsis.
Ndahayo grew up in Rwanda and shares his film with many audiences not only to help people learn about this tragic time in history but also to tell his story. In the movie, he confronted the man accused of killing his mother and siblings.
Sophomore Molly Brackman attended the showing of the film and said she learned a lot from what Ndahayo had incorporated.
“I knew about Rwanda and the genocide acts, but it was surreal seeing the bones of so many killed,” she said. “I didn’t think there were that many killed. It would be crazy if a million people were killed like that today in America.”
During the discussion, Ndahayo talked about incidents he experienced during the Rwanda genocide.
In 90 days, more than 1 million bodies were recovered.
Women and children were beaten and burned alive. Ndahayo said these weren’t mere killings; these acts were killings with intent. Many parents and their children never got to say goodbye because they were taken from their homes without warning.
The filmmaker explained that the Hutus and the Tutsis are classified by their class and how much they own, such as cows and land. If they obtained more, they were classified as Hutus; otherwise they were Tutsis. Because they did not live in separate parts of Rwanda, Hutus were known to kill their Tutsi neighbors.
When asked about the process of genocide and the brutal killings, Ndahayo said there were eight stages of genocide.
“The first stage is identification of the Hutu and the Tutsis. The second is dehumanization,” he said. “They called the Tutsis ‘cockroaches.’ Extermination was the last stage.”
For more information about Gilbert Ndahayo, visit his Web site at ndahayofilms.wordpress.com.