Munyurangabo Film Difficulty Ranking: 3
If you want to see a great film about life in post-genocide Rwanda then watch Munyurangabo. The production quality isn’t great and there’s a lot of singing that pops up now and then, but the dialogue is simple and waterproof. It doesn’t offer you much at the start, but it slowly reveals more and more as the film progresses until you realise you’re watching a much deeper film than you thought.
From: Rwanda, Africa
Watch: Trailer, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon, Tubi, Kanopy
Next: Hotel Rwanda, Look of Silence, Sleepwalking Land
Why Watch Munyurangabo?
- Join two friends on their journey across Rwanda.
- See how the Rwandan genocide has affected Rwandan society 10 years after it happened.
- Hear songs about Rwanda and a powerful poem from Poet Laureate Eduoard Uwayo.
- It’s the first feature film shot in the Kinyarwanda language.
The Breakdown
Munyurangabo starts quickly and without much of an introduction. The very first shot shows Ngabo stealing a machete at a local market. The second shot show Ngabo meeting Sangwa and then walking along a road whilst a song for Rwanda plays in the background. The third shot shows the two friends trying to hitch a ride out of town.
At this point we don’t know much. We don’t know who the characters are, where they are going, what they do, or anything else about them. The only things we can infer is that they are friends, they are both in their late teens, they have a weapon, and they are going somewhere. They seem to be happy and worry free.
However, things change when they stop to spend some time with Sangwa’s family. Whilst Sangwa’s mum is happy to see him, his father is not. He is unhappy that Sangwa has never visited them or helped them out in the country whilst he has been living in the city. Sangwa doesn’t have a response. He simply swaps out his bright white shirt (a symbol of his independent life in the city) for a dirt stained shirt that matches his fathers and gets to work around the house in an attempt to win back his father’s respect. He realises he has missed his family and wants to be a part of it again.
It’s as Sangwa integrates himself back into his family that racial tensions start flaring. Djabo doesn’t want to hang around with Sangwa’s family and wants to continue his journey with Sangwa. He’s getting a lot of bad looks from Sangwa’s mum and dad and is never properly welcomed. No one seems to want him there. Why? Because he’s Tutsi, and Sangwa and his family are Hutus. They fear he is looking for revenge for the Hutu led Tutsi genocide. As Sangwa wants to spend more and more time with his family, he becomes more and more of a stranger (and a Hutu) to Djabo. Can they still be friends?
Power in what we don’t know
There’s not too much dialogue in Munyurangabo. The subtitles are often clear and concise, with no words wasted. Therefore we don’t get to learn too much about Sangwa and Djabo until later in the film. There’s also not much explanation of where the two teenagers are going or what motivates them. We are plugged into their lives instantly without much background or context, so we have to pick up what we can as the film moves, and with little said between the two friends, it takes a while before we learn anything. It’s not until later, when Djabo meets Sangwa’s that we find out why they have left the capital.
It’s at this point that the film starts to explicitly discuss the genocide. Before Sangwa’s family reject Djabo, there was nothing to separate Sangwa and Djabo, they were just two teenagers living in the capital who saw each other as Rwandans. What we see at the start of the film is their simple friendship, in which we (the audience) are blissfully ignorant of their differences. We see what should be two friends. However, when Sangwa joins his family, he becomes a Hutu and Djabo becomes a Tutsi. Sangwa’s family, having lived through the genocide are living reminders of their differences. The gradual reveal of Sangwa and Djabo’s differences are a simple reminder that the Rwanda has not managed to move on from it’s past.
What to Watch Next
If you want to watch more films about the Rwandan genocide, check out the Hollywood made Hotel Rwanda which is effectively the Schindler’s List story from the Rwandan genocide. You could also check out My Neighbour, My Killer which looks at how Rwanda moved on after the war.
Or if you want to see more films about other genocides across the world, check out the uniquely made The Missing Picture which looks at the Cambodian genocide, and the shocking The Look of Silence which interviews the killers involved slaughtering millions of ‘communists’.
For something more positive and light-hearted, journey across Africa with some kids in Africa United or join two army slackers in Akasha.
','' ); } ?>