A journalist’s return to a murder scene he caught on camera

For its sixth day of Film Festival, Hillywood on Tuesday evening screened a documentary about the 1994 Rwanda Genocide against the Tutsi, at Shokola Café, in Kiyovu.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Iseta film

For its sixth day of Film Festival, Hillywood on Tuesday evening screened a documentary about the 1994 Rwanda Genocide against the Tutsi, at Shokola Café, in Kiyovu.

The documentary "Iseta”, directed by Juan Reina and Eric Kabera the CEO of Rwanda Cinema Centre, focuses on Nick Hughes a British cameraman who in April 1994 filmed Interahamwe killing people with machetes on the street.

The video was broadcasted for days on major news outlets and shocked the world. It became the symbol of the atrocities that took place during the Genocide in Rwanda.

Iseta follows Hughes as he comes back to Rwanda 13 years later to identify the victims and the murderers he filmed.

With the help of Kabera, Hughes begins a long investigation asking Genocide survivors and the perpetrators the information about the victims to find their families and denounce the authors of the crimes.

As he gathers clues on the life the victims had, one realises how Hughes himself was deeply affected by the events and the guilt he carries for being unable to save the victims of the Genocide.

Iseta is a poignant documentary which portrays a man traumatized by what he saw through his camera lens and who needs to return to the source of his traumatism to move forward.

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