German filmmaker Lukas Augustin delivers a touching narrative of the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide through UNFORGIVEN. The 75-minute documentary tells the story of reconciliation through an diverse group of victims. They include Ananias, imprisoned for seven years for his role in the genocide, and Brigitte, who is taken captive alongside her sister after their grandfather is slaughtered. The consequence of the rape she suffers is her daughter Liliane, who suffers PTSD [Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, note of the Editor].

unforgiven:rwanda trailer from Augustin Pictures on Vimeo.

Also sharing their experience in the documentary are Claudine, whose siblings were reportedly murdered by Ananias, and Innocent, a disfigured young man who has chosen to forgive his attackers. Christophe is the agent of change whose organisation Christian Action for Reconciliation and Social Assistance (CARSA) seeks to reconcile the victims with the perpetrators.
Samson is CARSA's intermediary and rounding up the cast is Wellars, Innocent's childhood friend who led the attack that left him disfigured.

UNFORGIVEN focuses on the path to forgiveness and the emotional trauma both the offender and offended are subjected to while finding closure. Can the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide be pardoned by their victims?
The film boasts numerous powerful scenes. At a point, Claudine confronts Ananias, during a meeting facilitated and moderated by CARSA. Watching Ananias seek forgiveness without revealing the whole truth showed his motive was not to be free from internal guilt but to avoid another jail term.
In another touching scene, Innocent and Claudine return to the church, where both were maimed and 30,000 Tutsis slaughtered.
Innocent and his attacker Wellars however best represent the idea of reconciliation that the film addresses: a message that is occasionally a hard-sell for Claudine.

Augustin does a good job of letting his dramatis personae tell their stories. The audience not only has the opportunity to witness the whirlwind of emotions and scars harboured by eyewitnesses of the Rwandan genocide, but also has the chance to empathise with them. Their gestures and tears reveal pain that is too heavy for words to describe. Augustin emphasises this. He downplays sound and speech, while highlighting action conveyed via the victims' physical expressions.
UNFORGIVEN sets out to convict by asking if indeed we are willing to practise what we preach. Whether or not we can forgive those who have harmed us is a hard question put forward by Augustin.

by Adefoyeke Ajao

First published in iREP 2015 Newsletter - Day 1, with support of iRep FilmFest and Goethe-Institut Nigeria.