INTORE
a film by Eric Kabera
(Rwanda) 53 min.
DISCUSSION GUIDE
SEASON 9
HOST: NIKKI BEHARIE
Nikki Beharie will next be seen as the female lead
in Will Packer Productions remake of Jacob’s
Ladder, directed by David M. Rosenthal. She
recently starred in the hit Fox series Sleepy
Hollow for producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto
Orci, for which she was nominated for an NAACP
Award for “Outstanding Actress in a Drama
Series,” in addition to “Outstanding Actress in
a Motion Picture” for 42 and Entertainer of the
Year. Beharie starred with Michael Fassbender in
Academy Award winning director Steve McQueen’s
feature Shame and began her career on
Broadway opposite Jeffrey Wright and Mos Def in
John Guare’s A Free Man of Color. She was
also the lead of the critically acclaimed feature
American Violet opposite Alfre Woodard and
Tim Blake Nelson for Samuel Goldwyn Films.
AFROPOP: THE ULTIMATE CULTURAL EXCHANGE
AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange is a US-based public
television show featuring independent documentaries and short
films about life, art, and culture from the contemporary African
Diaspora. The African Diaspora includes Africa, the Caribbean,
Canada, South America, Europe, the US, and anywhere people
of African descent have made a significant contribution to the
culture.
The films are always carefully selected to portray a more balanced
view of Africa than you’ll get on the nightly news and to provide
fuel for what must be a global conversation on the present day
realities and contemporary lifestyles of Africans, both on the
continent and in the Diaspora.
USING THIS GUIDE
BACKGROUND
The first section of the guide provides
•A synopsis of the film and information on the filmmaker, along with
a list of central characters and topics
•Background on the film’s key issues, focused on brief historical,
cultural, and political context
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
The second part of this guide provides questions crafted to be springboards
for dialogue, inviting audience members to engage with the issues raised in
the film and with one another.
The prompts are designed to meet the needs of a wide range of audiences
and circumstances, so you’ll want to choose those that best meet your
particular needs. You may want to dive directly into an issue-based prompt,
or you can gauge the interests of the audience by starting with a general
question. There’s no reason to cover them all or to use them in order (except
for the “wrap-up” questions, which are intended to help people synthesize
information at the end of a discussion). Typically you’ll only need one or two
questions to get things going; let the audience take it from there, using their
interests to guide the path of the discussion.
Recommended for: high school, college, and adult audiences
RESOURCES
The final section the guide lists related resources. You can use them to
prepare for leading a discussion or recommend them to audience members
seeking additional information.
AFROPOP: THE ULTIMATE CULTURAL EXCHANGE
is produced by the National Black Programming Consortium
(NBPC), distributed by American Public Television (APT), and
supported by funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Guide written by: Faith Rogow, Ph.D., InsightersEducation.com
Guide graphics by: Kathryn Bowser
© 2017 AfroPop TV
National Black Programming Consortium
Reproduction for non-profit educational use is permitted.
BACKGROUND
FILM SYNOPSIS
THE FILMMAKER
Intore (“The Chosen”) explores the ways in which music and dance
provide a pathway to survival, hope, and healing in post-genocide
Rwanda. The film features performances from Rwanda’s top
traditional and commercial artists in music and dance, interwoven
with poignant interviews from genocide survivors and perpetrators
who sit side-by-side. It’s a powerful look at how Rwandans are
using the arts to regain their identity. As they inspire a resilient new
generation, they provide a model of reconciliation for the world.
Born in 1970, in the former Zaire, now Democratic Republic of
the Congo, acclaimed Rwandan filmmaker, Eric Kabera studied
psychology, pedagogy and law. After 1994, Eric started Link Media
Productions, whose credits include the first feature length film on
the Rwandan genocide (100 Days). His productions have been
acclaimed in prestigious film festivals around the world. Motivated
by the lack of human resources in audiovisual in Rwanda, Eric
Kabera founded the Rwanda Cinema Centre (RCC) in 2001 with the
intention of training and facilitating filmmaking in Rwanda. He is
also a founding member of the East African Filmmakers Forum, the
founder of the Kwetu Film Institute and Chair of the Rwanda Film
Festival.
Topics: dance, genocide, music, reconciliation, Rwanda, traditional
culture, trauma and recovery
Selected People Featured in the Film
Corneille Nyungura – popular singer/songwriter who witnessed
his family being killed; he returns to Rwanda after living in
Germany and Canada
Jean Paul Samputu – music composer who responded to the
genocide by using alcohol and drugs, and overcame his addiction
Emmanuel Ndayisaba – committed atrocities and reconciled
with one of the women he maimed
Alice Mukarurinda – the woman that Emmanuel maimed
Albert Bryon Rudatsimburwa – artist / media analyst
Popo (Mighty Popo) Murigande – artist, founder of the Kigali
Music Festival
Aimable Bahizi – Intore dancer
Lion Imanzi – artist/journalist
Mariya Yohana - veteran folk singer, composer
RWANDA’S GENOCIDE
CONTEXT
Nearly 1 million people were killed in the 1994 Rwandan
genocide. This landlocked central African nation’s
conflict was rooted in its colonial past. Belgian colonial
authorities had given control of the country to the Tutsi
king, even though Tutsis were a minority caste. The
Belgians exaggerated ethnic divisions and encouraged
discrimination against Hutus. In 1959, the Hutus
revolted, overthrowing the king, killing thousands of
Tutsis, and driving another 150,000 into exile. By 1990,
children of these exiles had formed a rebel group, the
Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Rwanda’s current
president, Paul Kagame. Kagame’s forces started a civil
war in which the Tutsi rebels eventually defeated the
Hutu, but not before nearly a million Rwandans had
been killed and another two million Hutu refugees had
fled to neighboring nations.
Today, many refugees have returned, but ethnic
reconciliation is complicated by real and perceived Tutsi
political dominance under the Kagame administration.
Kagame’s intolerance for dissent has included the
arrest of opposition leaders and the banning of their
parties, the enshrinement of the Tutsi version of history
in the Rwandan constitution, and a largely one-sided
prosecution of genocide crimes, holding only Hutus
accountable. Over 100,000 Rwandans were imprisoned
for genocide crimes.
Healing is also hampered by the intimate nature of
the 1994 brutality, with tens of thousands having
been killed, maimed or violated by neighbors, friends,
and even family. Targets included people who dared
to maintain friendships, business relationships,
marriages, or even sympathies across ethnic lines.
Source: www.ciaworldfactbook.us/africa/rwanda.html
INTORE
The word “Intore” is translated as “chosen” or “elite”
or “leader.” As filmmaker Eric Kabera put it, “Intore is
not just a dancer. Intore is a man of integrity, a man who
puts himself up to the challenge, a man who performs
acts of bravery, so it’s an entire philosophy.” Dancers in
an Intore troupe are expected to be elegant and ethical.
Intore dance re-enacts warriors returning from a
victorious battle. Importantly, battles traditionally
involved Hutu, Tutsi and Twa fighting alongside eachother against a common enemy, so the performance of
Intore has always consisted of warriors of all groups
dancing together.
DISCUSSION
PROMPTS
GENERAL
If you were going to tell a friend about this film, what would you say?
Summarize the main message(s) of this film in a single sentence
or tweet. How does your summary compare to what others in the
room wrote? What do you think accounts for the similarities or
differences?
Describe a moment in the film that you found particularly moving.
What was it about that scene that was especially compelling?
Was there anything in the film that “spoke truth” to you?
REVIEWING CORE CONTENT
What did you learn from viewing the film about what Rwanda is like
today?
What are the essential messages of the Intore dance? How is it
representative of Rwandan culture?
What has Rwanda done to foster the process of reconciliation?
UNDERSTANDING GENOCIDE
Singer/songwriter Corneille Nyungura says, “We used to call
Rwanda the Switzerland of Africa. We thought we’re so holy, we
thought we’re so peaceful and we would pride ourselves in being
one of the most peaceful people and country in all of Africa.”
What do you think Rwandans were missing when they looked
at their culture and believed it was immune to something as
horrible as genocide? What did they fail to see about their own
vulnerabilities?
Poet Ntarindwa Diogene argues that genocide is “artificial” and a
“construction,” which “is why there can never be genocide without
planning. This is not some thing natural at all.”
Do you agree? Why or why not?
Emmanuel recalls that soldiers directed him to kill.
Could genocide occur without obedience to authority? Under what
circumstances would you teach your children to obey authority and
under what circumstances would you teach them to resist?
Music composer Jean Paul Samputu describes his reaction to hearing
radio reports in which the government declared Tutsi rebels to be
“enemies.” He felt “like, I am attacking Rwanda and I am the enemy of
Rwanda and I am in Rwanda.”
How was it possible for Rwandans to get past the sense that
they were being encouraged to attack themselves? What allowed
neighbor to kill neighbor?
In news footage, former President Bill Clinton acknowledges that the
Rwandan genocide was, “ one of my personal failures. For the world
did not intervene to try stop [it].”
What was/is the world’s duty to intervene? How should outside
nations balance their responsibility to protect human rights with
their duty to respect other nations by not interfering in internal
affairs?
Artist and media analyst Albert Rudatsimburwa says, “the whole
genocide was so not Rwandan at all. That has been because Rwanda
suffered an alienation of its own culture.” Corneille Nyungura described
it as the whole Rwandan identity “going to sleep.”
What does it mean for a nation be alienated from its culture? How
does this concept make it easier for Rwandans to deal with their
past?
LEGACY
Corneille Nyungura says, “it wasn’t until my son was born, that it all
came back up.” How did explaining Rwandan heritage and his family’s
story to the next generation help him re-focus on the positive things
about Rwanda?
Artists like Riderman and Corneille Nyungura describe witnessing
atrocities as children. What is the long-term impact on a society when
large numbers of people traumatized as children grow to be adults?
Jean Paul Samputu, whose parents were killed by a childhood friend,
describes responding to the atrocities by becoming an alcoholic and
drug addict. What’s the link between trauma or injustice and substance
abuse? What are the costs to society if the injustice is ongoing or the
trauma never healed?
RECONCILIATION
What did you learn from the film about how to engage in a process of
reconciliation?
President Paul Kagame says, “Most observers consider Rwanda a failed
state and predicted it would remain so, for a long time. But for the
people all over Rwanda that was not an option. And we had to move
upwards and do it together.” What is the role of political leadership in
fostering or obstructing reconciliation?
How did Emmanuel Ndayisaba’s and Alice Mukarurinda’s encounter
at the local Gacaca (traditional tribunal) allow them to transform a
dehumanizing event into a re-humanizing relationship?
Poet and artist, Ntarindwa Diogene says that in contrast to other
places where genocide took place, “Rwandans had something that
united them.”
What do you think would have happened if Hutus, Tutsis,
and Twa did not share significant aspects of culture? What
has happened in other instances of conflict where people on
opposing sides did not share music, dance, literature, etc.?
Corneille Nyungura says that the genocide, “pushed us to the limits
of what a human being can face…This made us wonder how far
and how much can you really have faith in the ability of a human
being to be humane?” What can a society do to rebuild trust when
faith in humanity has been challenged?
HEALING
The chorus of Corneille’s Nyungura song is “That’s how I remember
you…”
How do we honor the memories of horror, but not get stuck
there? What do artists and others do to create new memories
that are hopeful?
Pastor Antoine Rutayisire counsels, “Rather than building on what
divides us, we build on what brings us together.”
What role does dance or music play in bringing people together?
Where in your own community do you see people building on
what divides? Where do you see people building on what they
have in common?
Jean Paul Samputu advises, “if we don’t forgive, it will destroy us,
and we will become what we don’t forgive.”
Do you think he’s correct? In Rwanda, the Gacacas provided a
formal, public structure for forgiveness. Can you think of any
similar structures in your community?
Mariya Yohana, who lost her children, realizes she is not alone in
her pain, and is comforted by sharing her loss with other parents
who lost children. Where do you find support during difficult times?
IDENTITY
Pastor Antoine Rutayisire says, “we are who we are, because of
where we come from, so our culture, is what makes us who we are.”
Where do you come from and how has it shaped who you are?
Because he had a Tutsi father and Hutu mother, Corneille Nyungura
says, “I’m genetically conditioned not to be or to take sides. I’m
genetically conditioned not to be biased, not on a purely ethnic level
anyways.”
How is this like the experience of mixed race people in places
like the U.S.?
Kigali Up Festival founder, Popo Murigande says, “If we lose our culture
we don’t exist. That is really what has kept us alive.” He has kept culture
alive by creating an arts festival that features performers who mesh
traditional styles with newer pop styles.
Who are the cultural gatekeepers in your community or country?
What aspects of culture are being preserved and what is ceasing
to exist?
Like many of the younger artists, Mani Martin talks about mixing new
music styles with traditional Rwandan rhythms and singing.
What difference does it make to Rwanda to have musicians who
integrate Rwandan musical traditions and language rather than
just adopt Western music styles?
THE POWER OF THE ARTS
As we watch a stadium theatrical performance about the genocide,
poet Ntarindwa Diogene explains that such shows help Rwandans
“deconstruct” the events.
How do music, dance, and theater performances help people
process difficult history? Have you ever experienced a public art
performance that helped you process a disturbing event? What
was it like?
Dancer Cyusa Ibrahim says, “You can’t be dancing thinking of division.”
How does Intore dance serve as a unifying force, both for dancers
and for the audience?
Corneille Nyungura says, “More than being angry at Rwanda, I was
angry about life for having been so unfair to me…the expression of
such anger knows no limits... it had to come out because it had been
chocking me for so many years…[through music]… I’m giving myself
the right to express it.”
What is unique about the way that art helps people release or
express emotion?
Musician Massamba Intore was raised outside Rwanda but because
his father taught him Rwandan songs, “I know Rwanda since the time I
was refugee without setting foot in it.” Dancer Aimable Bahizi describes
a similar situation about learning Intore dance.
What would you share to convey your culture to a child born of your
community but physically living outside it?
Dancer Kayigemera Swangwa Aline says of the dance, “Even before
you see the person, through the cultural pattern, you see the identity.”
Dancer Aimable Bahizi comments the way that Rwandan dance
imitates the movement of the cow, which reflects the centrality of cows
to Rwandan culture.
When you look at traditional or current dances in your community,
what do they tell you about your culture? How do those messages
compare/contrast with the messages in Intore dance?
Filmmaker Eric Kabera explains that an Intore dancer is not just a
dancer, but also someone with great moral integrity. Popo Murigande
adds that “the dancing it brings you back a thousand years. It’s really
something that’s so deeply rooted, when you see it, you
can’t go wrong; if you have a soul, and you see it, you’ll
be touched.”
Contrast this with cultures and religions that
ban dancing. What do you think accounts for the
difference?
FILMMAKING CHOICES
What major questions was the filmmaker trying
to answer and how do you know? What were the
filmmaker’s answers? Did you agree with those
answers? Why or Why not?
How does the film compare to other media images
you’ve seen of Rwanda?
What emotions did the film evoke? What filmmaking
techniques contributed to that reaction?
Was there anything about the construction of the film
that you found to be particularly notable or memorable?
What’s the significance of the film’s title?
If you could ask the filmmaker one question, what
would you want to know?
RESOURCES
WRAP-UP
INTORE
Complete this sentence: I think the story of current
Rwandan artists is important (or interesting or
inspiring) because…
Is there one thing you learned from this film that you
wish everybody knew? What do you think would change
if everyone knew it?
Fill in the blanks: One thing I learned from this screening
is _______________.
Now that I know, I will ___________________.
www.intore-themovie.com/home.html
AFROPOP: THE ULTIMATE CULTURAL EXCHANGE
www.AfroPop.tv
www.blackpublicmedia.org
INTORE
www.rwanda-direct.com/rwanda-intore-dancers/ - general information about
traditional Rwandan music and dance
RWANDA’S NATIONAL UNITY
AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
www.nurc.gov.rw - reports and policies from the government agency in charge
of the nation’s healing and efforts to prevent future ethnic conflicts
THE RWANDAN RECONCILIATION
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/15/
AR2005101500108.html - a lawyer from Maryland witnesses a reconciliation
gacaca (local tribunal)
“THE BATWA: RWANDA’S INVISIBLE PEOPLE”
https://intercontinentalcry.org/the-batwa-rwandas-invisible-people-19581/ a Canadian journalist looks at the roots of ethnic groups in Rwanda
SEASON 9
An American Ascent
Intore
My Father’s Land
Black Out
Pangaea
Omo Child: The River and the Bush