‘Trees of Peace’, a movie depicting the life of four women during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, will be available on global entertainment mainstreaming giant, Netflix, effective June 10, Hollywood actress Alanna Brown, the film producer, has confirmed. Featuring on Netflix means the movie will be accessible to over 222 million subscribers using the mainstreaming giant worldwide. “Im beyond proud and thrilled that my first feature was acquired globally by Netflix this year, massive thanks to an incredible team and a couple of unrelenting producers. Be sure to add the film to My List on Netflix so youre reminded of the June 10th release date,” Alanna said. “Trees of Piece” is inspired by actual events and follows four women from different backgrounds who forge an unbreakable bond while trapped in an underground room during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The project was conceived about nine years ago when Alanna was interviewing a woman who founded an initiative to help rebuild women survivors in Rwanda and the stories inspired her. She began writing the screenplay in 2012. It was a two-year process writing the initial script, which was soon noticed by agents and managers. She then spent a couple of years meeting with studios, producers, and executives that loved the script but found the film too difficult to make. The film was shot in October-November of 2019, but the post-production was delayed and extended due to Covid-19. It took all of 2020 to be finalised. Starring in the film include four main characters namely Annick, Mutesi, Jeanette and Peyton and each, according to Alanna, is a warrior in her own right but has demons that she struggles with, touching on our vast duality as humans and as women. The lead characters include Charmaine Bingwa, Ella Cannon, Bola Koleosho, Tongayi Chirisa and Rwanda’s famous actress Eliane Umuhire, who plays the lead role of Annick in the movie. Umuhire starred in the 97-minute movie and could be among the few Rwandan filmmakers featured on Netflix platform. Prior to streaming on Netflix, the film has already won the top three jury prizes at American Black Film Festival including the John Singleton Award for best first feature and earned the top jury award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival after it premiered there last year.
