After Years of Walking

The way history is told can have great consequences, but these consequences are rarely so inconceivably cruel and bloody as in Rwanda. The Hutus misused the prevailing myths about the origin of Rwanda as a licence to massacre the Tutsis. Due to its tainted history, the Rwandan government temporarily abolished history classes. Filmmaker Sarah Vanagt discovered a historical film from 1959, made by Belgian missionaries in Rwanda. She recently took this document to Africa to use it as a starting point for discussions and reflections on Rwandan history. Students, teachers, historians and ex-soldiers talk about their personal and national histories, the genocide and the large-scale reconciliation project in which the government is attempting to convince different population groups to live side by side in peace. Vanagt has them tell their stories while walking – a reference to the historical film, which shows how, after many years of walking, the Tutsis finally reached the promised land.