Country:United States of America

Director:Lisa F. Jackson

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

Violence against women in conflict has been called one of history’s greatest silences. This documentary, filmed in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo over several months in 2006 and 2007, breaks the silence that has surrounded the tens of thousands of women and girls who have been kidnapped, raped, sexually enslaved and tortured in that country’s intractable civil war. The filmmaker, herself a survivor of gang rape, shares her experience with the women she meets.

Country:United States of America

Director:Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

This film uses photographs and first hand testimony of former U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle to take the viewer on a journey into the heart of Darfur, Sudan, where an Arab run government is systematically executing a plan to rid the province of its black African citizens. As an official military observer, Steidle had access to parts of the country that no journalist could penetrate. Ultimately frustrated by the inaction of the international community, Steidle resigned and returned to the US to expose the images and stories of lives systematically destroyed.

Country:Sudan

Director:Peter Jordan

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

Filmed inside Sudan, in a Darfur displacement camp and in a remote village in the Nuba Mountains, A Different Kind of Gun tells the harrowing story of children caught in the crossfire of Sudan's two wars. Told in children's voices and filmed, in part, by their own eyes, the film takes us into the hearts of the country's youngest generation, who will decide one day whether to avenge their families deaths or to forgive them.

Country:United States of America

Director:Kenny Mann

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

The Swahili Beat is an upbeat film that looks at the history of the East African coast, tracing events from ancient times through the arrival of the first Arab settlers in the 8th century to the contemporary impact of globalization. The film is jam-packed with traditional and contemporary Swahili and coastal music and dance. The film asks this one main question: The Swahili culture has survived through many invasions, including the Omani Arabs, Persians, Portuguese, British and Germans. Will the Swahili survive the internet age and globalization.

Country:United States of America

Director:Peter Glenn

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

With 1.4 million HIV-infected people Tanzania is one of the most afflicted countries worldwide. Sociologist Mama Lyimo is amazed that years of education have not yet paid of. To find an explanation, she sets out on a 40 day tour around her native country to chart the epidemic. Strikingly frank, she speaks with fishing communities, meets the Maasai, enters into a discussion with priests who still oppose the use of condoms, visits orphanages and helps organisations that care for the millions of AIDS orphans. A remarkable element is the persisting discrepancy between knowledge and superstition.

Country:United States of America

Director:Manthia Diawara

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

This documentary follows acclaimed author Ngugi wa Thiong'o as he and his wife Njeri journey back to Kenya after twenty two years of exile. As they are welcomed home by joyous and hopeful crowds, they also must cope with those who still find their revolutionary words and deeds threatening. While some Kenyans admired Ngugi for inspiring political change, others had conspired against him, which led to the rape of his wife, Njeeri. "Ngugi taught me to keep on fighting," Manthia Diawara said of his longtime friend.

Country:Netherlands

Director:Hillie Molenaar and Joop Van Wijk

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

Hillie Molenaar & Joop van Wijk discover East Africa's largest and most modern newspaper, The Daily Nation, Kenya's only independent source of information. In Kenya's still-developing nation, corruption is a force felt everywhere. In spite of this The Daily Nation struggles to maintain its independence. Its committed staff provide the Kenyan people with stories that make an impact on their life and remind them of the value of an independent press.

Country:Netherlands

Director:Hillie Molenaar and Joop Van Wijk

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

In 1994, at an intersection of roads from Uganda to Tanzania and from Kenya via Rwanda to Zaire, some half a million refugees from Tutsi-Hutu violence streamed in to create boom town called Benaco. The newcomers--whose roles in the Rwandan genocide are unknown--mean big business and a wave of petty crime. A single white wedding dress, rented out to refugee brides, becomes an emblem of innocence and hope that is long gone from the drawn faces of Rwandan orphans.

Country:France, United States of America

Director:Lee Isaac Chung

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

This film about the genocide in Rwanda is based on a script only 9 pages long, Chung and his team developed the film as an aid project for war orphans and refugees who largely form the cast and crew of the film. Ngabo and his friend Sangwa leave Kigali to put something right from the past. On the way they stop at Sangwa’s parental home, who hasn’t been there for three years. His mother is delighted but his father is still angry at his son for staying away so long.

Country:Uganda

Director:Giovanni Dall’Oglio & Salvatore Braca

Program:World Parallel

Summary:

Ekisil is a story telling film but it is also corroborated by a succinct commentary meant to help the viewer to understand a very important part of life, culture and values of the Karimojong people. The film tells us about the power of friendship between Ikole a Bokora, Lokol, a Matheniko and someone who is considered a foreigner within his own land for not having abided entirely to the cultural values of his tribe. It is a friendly power that goes over tribal differences and cultural values since they save reciprocally their lives from the violence of tribal conflicts.