Felicia Middlebrooks’s film, Somebody’s Child: The Redemption of Rwanda, is an engrossing documentary on the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide that, perhaps surprisingly, leaves viewers with a passionate feeling of hope for that country’s future.   

The daily news and the situations depicted in various films we’ve reviewed on genocide, present a challenge not to be pessimistic regarding the apparent insatiable appetite of man’s inhumanity to other humans.  

Believe it or not, this film, with archival footage of the horrific carnage left in the wake of the 1994 massacre, also conveys the progress that has been made in Rwanda in the intervening years, by introducing us to women who are determined to make a difference.     

While not knocking other fine films on Rwanda, such as Hotel Rwanda, Shake Hands with the Devil and Beyond the Gates, each of those films focuses on events that took place during that time. Somebody’s Child: The Redemption of Rwanda is about today.  

The Redemption of Rwanda is worth a look if for no other reason than to see that hope can still arise from the most heinous acts one can imagine. Genocide places the concept of forgiveness to the ultimate test. 

The film was screened as part of the Women’s History month conference, co-sponsored by WITASWAN, in Chicago on March 31, 2006 at Landmark’s Century City, with Writer/Narrator/Director Felicia Middlebrooks in attendance. After the screening there was an extensive Q&A before we sat down with Felicia to complete our discussion with her. For more information, visit Felicia’s website. 

George Singleton: You never set out directly to make this film but it just came about. How did that happen? 

Felicia Middlebrooks: Various opportunities came up for me to go to Africa and when I got the idea of recording my trip, things fell into place. Whatever God orders, he pays for. It was a miracle of sorts that allowed me to assemble the crew, get advice from those that have made films before and find the money to pay those that had faith in me. 

GS: Why was the film edited to 53 minutes if you are looking for distribution? Most films need to be about 90 minutes or more. 

FM: Making a film is one thing. Getting a distributor so people can see it is another. It’s much harder. We believe we are close to a distribution deal and something in the 50 minute range seems to be what will work best for making that happen. Also, the fact that the film is about current day Rwanda and depicts hope sets it apart from other movies. 

GS: It seems impossible that the Tutsis and Hutus are now getting along, when 800,000 Tutsis were killed by the Hutus in 100 days. There has to be bad blood with the long history of discrimination, and the Hutus referring to the Tutsis with the dehumanizing phrase “cockroaches.”  As you said, genocide is “pain in its purist form.” How is it possible that there can be hope in this situation? 

FM: The President of Rwanda (Paul Kagame), a former leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which was widely credited with stopping the genocide, is a Hutu that has provided much needed stability to this war torn country. He is a man that is a strong moral leader. One of the things he has done is to do away with discussions about who is Hutu and who is Tutsi. The focus is now on being a Rwandan.  

William A Reed (14 years old): You said earlier that your group of Americans were suspect because you came to see how they were doing 10 years (too late) after the genocide. Can the people of Rwanda ever forgive the US for standing by, effectively doing nothing, in their time of need in April 1994? 

FM: That’s a very good question (said with a pleasing smile that such a thoughtful question would come from a teenager). People have been very angry with America; ‘You can help everyone else, but you didn’t help us’. There were no commercial interests such as diamonds, oil or gold. We are now an afterthought as they know they must help themselves. 

They were curious about our group in part because I was an African American woman. To this day, those that help are individuals and some corporations doing so in a quiet manner.