Fictions of Justice in Post-Genocide Films

Abstract

In the aftermath of genocide and other state-sponsored violence, the arts can play a vital role in defining the history of a genocidal regime outside of political or ideological rhetoric. While there has been a proliferation of fictional films that detail the events of the three-month-long 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda (such as Hotel Rwanda (2004) among many others) it is also crucial to consider those films that represent the post-genocide aftermath and individual Rwandans search for peace and justice. In this chapter, I focus on two films that show Rwandans struggling with the legacy of the 1994 genocide: Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck's Sometimes in April (2005) and American director Lee Isaac Chung's Munyurangabo (2007). Alternating between scenes from the genocide and the stories of survivors and perpetrators negotiating its aftermath, Peck's film offers a complex portrait of how the justice process affects individual survivors and their families. Munyurangabo interrogates the human desire for revenge and the persistence of anti-Tutsi sentiment in post-genocide Rwanda. I argue that the fictional narratives of both films create a space in which the affective and cultural barriers to post-conflict, transitional justice can be explored on a personal level not possible in the juridical sphere.