Defined to a Moment: Filming Rwanda after Genocide

The 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi has come to define Rwanda due, in part, to how it has been represented on screen. This article explores articulations of historical authenticity in Rwanda’s film industry in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, with a specific focus on the varied uses of and engagements with Rwandan memory. From roughly 2001–2014, Rwanda’s local film industry developed in conjunction with the rise of foreign-led film productions about the genocide. Many of the first Rwandan filmmakers, producers, technicians, and actors received training from these visiting international crews. Foreign filmmakers relied on Rwandans’ histories and memories of the genocide to produce what they perceived to be as authentic a representation possible. Rwandan filmmakers later demonstrated that living in Rwanda after 1994 meant that everyone had a different story, and that authenticity was inseparable from entangled, complex, and diverse representations of the past, identity, and trauma. This article explores the dynamics of filming on location in Rwanda after the genocide, and how early Rwandan filmmakers in turn depicted ‘life after genocide’ in their work. Drawing on interviews with members of Rwanda’s film community, this article considers early film productions within the context of ongoing discussions around realism, re-traumatization, memory, and what constitutes a ‘Rwandan story.’