Petit Pays is finally set to hit European cinemas this month. The movie is drawn from a book by French-Rwandan rapper and author Gaël Faye.
Published in August 2016, Petit Pays (French for ‘small country’) is the author’s recollection of the civil war in Burundi in 1993, and later the Genocide against the Tutsi across the border in Rwanda in 1994.
The story revolves around a group of five boys aged between 11-14 years old, growing up in the Burundian capital of Bujumbura. The story is narrated by one of the boys, Gabriel (or Gaby), the book’s protagonist who is born in Bujumbura to a French father and Rwandan mother, just like Gaël Faye.
Petit Pays is written in French, and has been translated to over 30 languages, including Kinyarwanda – a testament to its universal appeal.
The book has gained international recognition with several nods, including the First French Novel Prize 2016, the 2016 Goncourt High School Student’s Prize, and the French Culture-Telerama Student novel 2016.
Born to a French father and a Rwandan mother, Gaël was born in Burundi and went to France at the age of 13 – just like the life of Gabriel, the film’s protagonist.
However, the author said in many interviews that the movie does not specifically reflect his life, except part of it.
Speaking to The New Times on Saturday night, after the film’s pre-release and presentation of the cast, Gaël explained that the drive behind the film and the book is for people in the region to tell their own stories.
The movie’s pre-release in Kigali, on March 7, was attended by the First Lady Jeannette Kagame, several top government officials, among dignitaries.
"The intention was to tell our own stories as people from this region; Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. We shouldn’t wait for people from elsewhere to write books or do movies about us. And I think now is the time for this generation and young artists to tell their own story,” Gaël said.
He added: "Take this movie as a print of our history.”
It will be officially released in Europe by March 18, he noted.
It is not yet known when Petit Pays will be on the Rwandan market, but, according to Faye, negotiations are going on with Cinema Century in this regard.
Efforts ‘worth the results’
Didacienne Nibagwire, the casting director of the film, explained that the "good product was due to the determination and passion of the team.”
"It was very emotional seeing all the faces in the film bringing to life the book’s story as good as they did,” she said.
"They all gave us their best and most of them it was their first time in front of a camera. I was very proud of each actor and technical person that worked on the film,” she added.