For ten years, filmmaker and professor, Dr Piotr Cieplak, has been coming to Rwanda to research and make films in Rwanda since 2008 and has written extensively about image-based representation of the 1994 genocide. He has attended quite a number of genocide commemoration events but one of his most vivid memories from his first trip is a visit to the small, dark room of photographs of genocide victims in the Kigali Genocide Memorial. The result of his experience and knowledge of the genocide is his first feature film, ‘The Faces we lost’, released in 2017. ‘The Faces We Lost’ is a documentary about how Rwandans use personal and family photographs to remember and commemorate the loved ones they lost in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. The documentary follows nine Rwandans (survivours, relatives of victims and professional memory-makers), who guide us through their stories and share their experiences, remembrance and images but also explores the professional aspect of memory-making in Rwanda: The Genocide Archive (which holds thousands of original images donated by the victims’ relatives) and the Kigali Genocide Memorial (where many of the photographs are on public display). It is the first documentary to explore the many functions of these priceless photographs, and one of the few films to engage with Rwandans as users of images, rather than simply their subjects. As the private and the public meet and as each person recounts their relationship with the photographs they have or they wish they had, ‘The Faces We Lost’ moves to paint a complex memorial landscape of contemporary Rwanda. The film has already been screened in Poland, Italy, France and the UK. It was screened for the first time in Rwanda, on Thursday evening, at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi. After the screening Dr Piotr Cieplak, and other panelists, Beata Mukarubuga, a genocide survivor who was also featured in the film, and Serge Rwigamba, also a genocide survivor and the head guide at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, were at hand to handle the different questions from the audience. Cieplak pointed out that the whole point was to make a film about the importance of keeping the photos of the victims, to the survivors and their ability to signify life as well as death. “A lot of people have only a solitary image of their loved ones while many have none at all. But while many people often ask for facts that are gruesome, I wanted to show that there are simple things that we can use to remember such as the photographs. As I travelled to Muhanga, Nyungwe, Kibuye to meet the survivors I learned from the masses and how people express their feelings through the photos,” he told the audience. Serge Rwigamba also shared: “the photos are the most significant archives that we have. Some of the archives look quite similar like the skulls, and the clothes that were retrieved form the graves cannot be attached to the specific victims. The photos help one connect with the victims, and proves that they are not just a number, they are people too. The photos bring them to life.” We receive a lot of visitors who take a lot of time look at the photos and some ask us if they are the real victims and it’s a great time to tell them that those are the people that they come to commemorate.” During the genocide Mukarubuga, who survived with her then three months baby, lost her loved ones, her parents her husband, five children, siblings and friends. For her, the photographs are a way to bring the people she lost to life. The film was an opportunity for her to tell her story. “The photos are also about the victim’s dignity and remember their happy times and not just their absence. During those horrific 100 days as I watched people being slaughtered, I prayed to God to spare some people so that they could be able to tell of the gruesome events that occurred. Being part of this documentary was a huge opportunity for me,” she said. Organisers revealed that they plan to screen the film to different parts of the country while the copies of the film will be available at the Kigali Genocide Memorial center and throughout different memorial centers across the country. His films and visual essays have won awards and screened widely at international film festivals. Piotr has also written a book on Rwanda entitled ‘Death, Image, Memory: the genocide in Rwanda and its aftermath in photography.’ editorial@newtimes.co.rw
