Movie Review: My Neighbour, My Killer (2009)

Paul Fuggles, International Correspondent. 2020-04-08 22:31:16

My Neighbour, My Killer (French: Mon voisin, mon tueur) is a 2009 French-American documentary film directed by Anne Aghion that focuses on the process of the Gacaca courts, a citizen-based justice system that was put into place in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Filmed over ten years, it makes us reflect on how people can live together after such a traumatic experience. Through the story and the words of the inhabitants of a small rural community, we see survivors and killers learn how to coexist.

Language: French
Subtitles: English

Watch the full movie here https://vimeo.com/groups/331203/videos/244348910

"The Rwandan genocide of 1994 has spawned a number of feature films, but Anne Aghion’s remarkable documentary about the ‘Gacaca’ community tribunals is the most calmly moving guide yet to the emotional landscape of those who were left behind.

Unlike its fictional counterparts, My Neighbor… does not lean on Western characters to translate and mediate the raw horror. Apart from one or two court officials, everyone we see on screen lives in the same small rural village, Gafumba, and all played some part in the bloody events of that April – either as relatives of the victims, or as their killers."