Ruanda Medial – Genozid als Filmstoff und transnationales Medienereignis

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Abstract Rwanda and the Media: Genocide as cinematic narrative and transnational media event. In this paper eight films on the Rwandan genocide are analysed, all of which were produced by African or Euro-American producers ten years after the fact. Special emphasis is placed on the examination of the transmitters – such as: photographs, radio broadcasts, testimonies of contemporary witnesses, documents and equipment – which were utilized by the producers to lend their films authenticity. At best these films present a convincing critique of the colonial and postcolonial hegemonic structures by way of a critical examination of the media. On the other hand, the films of a mainstream or Hollywood brand mostly just reproduced classical Western stereotypes which echo the „heart of darkness“.