didy

A thoughtful and sensitive portrait of Didy, the mother of filmmaker Gaël Kamilindi, who died when he was five years old. Kamilindi goes in search of her history by traveling from Switzerland, where he grew up, back to their motherland Rwanda.

Drawing on the memories of Didy’s three sisters and others who knew her well, he constructs an image of a strong, fearless and independent woman. At the same time, the film is about the violent history of Rwanda, where the Tutsis suffered under the hatred of Hutu extremism, which at various times erupted horrifically.

In addition to the conversations with and between his aunts, Kamilindi films the magnificent landscape of his early childhood and the artistic rituals he performs to get closer to his mother, his homeland and his origins. He makes constant use of natural and at times enchanting light—revealing a dark past, but also an unprecedented beauty and resilience.