Grey Matter
Directed by Kivu Ruhorahoza
Rwanda | Drama | Kinyarwanda w/ English subtitles |2011 | 100 min
Featuring an introduction to the film by Francine Serwili.
Set in modern-day Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, this radiant, unapologetically self-referential film-within-a-film describes the process and vision of an astute, determined filmmaker named Balthazar hustling for funds for his first feature, The Cycle of the Cockroach. But the themes of his haunted and trenchant drama, about the aftermath of genocide on a brother and sister, find no support from agencies interested in funding upbeat policy-related films detailing HIV prevention or gender-based violence. As Balthazar presses ahead, borrowing recklessly from a loan shark, two extended parts of the Cycle play out on the screen, measuring with profound subtlety the horror and systematic madness of events whose fundamental characteristics are anything but unique to Rwanda and whose aftermath is ongoing. Powerful, beautiful and passionately aware filmmaking from Rwandan director Kivu Ruhorahoza makes Grey Matter much more than a “message film,” while offering bracing insight into the nature of political violence.
