congo

A Love During The War (Congo/Cameroon)
Director: Osvalde Lewat-Hallade
Year: 2006
Runtime: 63 minutes
Screening Times: March 5, 2008, 7:30 PM
Screens at Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West

Synopsis:
Aziza and her four kids are separated from her husband at the beginning of the catastrophic civil war that hit the Congo in 1996. Six years later, they are reunited but must deal with the ghosts of what they have witnessed — the senseless killings and brutal rapes that have become the hallmarks of this African war.

Director’s Biography:
Osvalde Lewat-Hallade started her career as a journalist. She produced her first documentary “Upsa Yimoowin” or the “Pipe of Hope” in Toronto. She became famous with “Beyond the Pains” (2003), featuring a prisoner who was convicted for four years, but has been in jail for 33 years.

Interview with Osvalde Lewat-Hallade in Le Potentiel (French).

Co-presented with HotDocs

Overview by Julie Giles

A Love During The War manages a remarkable feat, telling an uplifting story of love that is utterly uncontrived, while situating it within the context of a bloody war and the horrifying phenomenon of systematic rape committed by militias and armies in the Congo.

The two lovers in question are journalist Aziza and her husband Dedier, who are separated by the outbreak of the Congo-Kinshasa war in 1996, a conflict that eventually claimed the lives of three million people. Direct, riveting interviews reveal the angst Aziza and Dedier endured throughout their six-year-long severance.

Through the actions of Aziza, who takes an interest in the brutal experiences of a young girl who was gang-raped by several uniformed men, director Osvalde Lewat-Hallade seamlessly synthesizes a personal story with an examination of the use of rape as a tool of war. The result is stirring and ultimately galvanizing, as one cannot help but feel awed by the courage and resilience of women who have overcome stigma and trauma to speak out.

Co-presented with HotDocs

Program notes by George Kaltsounakis