Making movies helped me heal after my dad's murder
Joël Karekezi is a Rwandan filmmaker whose father was killed in the country's genocide. Joël managed to escape the violence and now directs films about war and forgiveness.
Joël Karekezi is a Rwandan director, scriptwriter and producer with a string of awards to his name. His films, such as Imbabazi: The Pardon, and The Mercy of the Jungle, deal with issues around the brutality of conflict and war, but also the possibility of forgiveness and hope. And they are themes that were set in his mind from a very young age. Because when he was a boy, Joël lived through the Rwandan genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by extremist Hutu militias. Making films has given Joël a chance to make sense of what he and his family went through during that time.
A longer version of this interview was first broadcast in July 2020.
Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Rebecca Vincent
(Photo: Joël Karekezi during filmmaking. Credit: Ali Musoke)
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